Medical Strawberries
by MasterSqueakToy
Summary: As Konoha prepares for the possible assaults from the Akatsuki, Ino finds herself severely distracted by her thoughts of Sakura. Not only is she having to deal with the pain of being the weakest member of her team, but also her conflicting emotions for her rival. She never expected to tug Hinata into her confusing drama. Lemon&Lime/Yuri InoSaku, InoHina ((Please Review!))
1. Headache

MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES

Chapter One.

"Headache"

* * *

"_I refuse to fall behind you...Sakura..."_ The words echoed in Ino's mind as she hid behind one of the large trees of their village's mighty forest. She couldn't spot either of her teammates; Chouji or Shikamaru, or even her teacher, Asuma-Sensei. After the word that the Akatsuki was on the move, it was recommended that all of the villages start preparing for the worst. Even though Asuma-Sensei had voiced that he believed in the strength of Team 10, Ino didn't believe him. She overheard what the other Jounins thought of them. Even though Shikamaru was respected by the Hokage, she knew that as long as he was teamed up with her and Chouji, he would be labeled as _lazy._ Sakura on the other hand, was noted for her strength. Then again, when you had to stand side by side ninjas like Naruto or Sasuke, it was expected.

With every year that passed by, she felt as though she were falling further and further behind. She was obsessed.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain chop directly into her shoulder blades, causing her to tumble down to the ground unconscious. When she awoke, she was looking up at her teammates, and grimaced.

No one said anything at first. Asuma-sensei only scratched his chin as he smoked his cigarette, before glancing over at the boys. "I think we should pick up tomorrow. Remember, you guys aren't kids. On the battle field, I can't protect you." The words were like daggers. Ino didn't argue. She nodded her head and headed off towards her home.

_'Sakura...you don't have a blood trait. You don't have a blood trait. You're not special...why are you so special,' _she continued to think to herself. Instead of going home, she went to the medical center, determined to focus on improving her chakra control. She grabbed one of the fish and started focusing on healing the injured animal. She couldn't focus, and burned several fish in the process. She wanted to get in as much practice as she could before she was asked to leave.

She was making progress. Her mistakes were so small, it was beginning to aggravate her. All she continued to say was one more time. One more time. She was sure that she would get it by the next attempt. Ino quickly placed another fish upon the scroll and clapped her hands together to focus her energy, until her chakra burned a pastel green. Her fingers hovered above the fish. Before she could begin the procedure, the door opened. The shock of it all, caused her to surge too much charka, burning the fish in the process.

"Shit," she sharply cursed, before snapping her gaze over to the door to see Sakura. "Don't you have better things to do?!" she sneered. She didn't know what it was about Sakura that drew out this rudeness. She didn't know why she always had the urge to send the girl away. She didn't know why she felt her blood boil when Sakura moved over beside her.

"It's not hard," the pink haired girl explained in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "Here, let me show you-" Sakura had moved to grab one of the fish, but Ino suddenly voiced, "Don't bother," and turned to walk away.

"But I'm trying to help you!" Sakura tried to explain. "Medical Ninjutsu isn't easy! I had to work very hard—"

"There you go again, always acting like you're better than everyone," Ino scoffed as she glanced back at the other girl. "I'm not going to lose to you! Between us, I'll be the stronger Kunoichi."

"Why are you doing this?" Sakura asked.

A cocky little grin slipped onto Ino's lips as she walked over to Sakura and looked at her. "Why?" she repeated, "Why did you declare me your rival for Sasuke-kun? It's because you didn't want to lose to me, right?"

"Sasuke...is gone," Sakura hesitantly spoke up. "You really shouldn't randomly bring him up."

"What, do you still like him?" Ino asked, "After all of these years, you haven't moved on? A little desperate, don't you think?"

"Well did you?!" Sakura snapped.

Ino stared at Sakura for a moment, unsure of what to say. There weren't any words to describe how angry she felt. She could have apologized, but she didn't. Instead she continued to glare at Sakura. Their eyes were locked for a few moments, before Sakura's gaze trailed away.

"Like I said, Sasuke is gone. Team 7 has moved on," Sakura tried to explain. "After all, I have Naruto, Captain Yamato and Sai...I don't have to rely on Sasuke anymore."

Sakura thought she was weak...Ino could tell. She thought that she stronger than her; that she was better than her.

"Maybe you should move on too," Sakura suggested.

Suddenly Ino pushed her down onto the table, and held her there. "You're not as fucking awesome as you think!" Ino snapped, causing Sakura to stare up her in disbelief. "You're not _that_ special! Stop acting like you're the best thing that ever happened to anyone!"

It was when Sakura's leg brushed against hers, that Ino realized how weird she probably seemed.

"I have to go," she spoke up and quickly turned to leave.

"Wait, Ino!" Sakura called out, however Ino didn't stop. She hurried out of the room and didn't stop until she was able to leave the building as a whole. Her face was hot. Her heart was racing in her chest. She was so close to Sakura, without even regarding the fact that they were both girls.

_'Argh, what's my problem?!'_

"Ino-chan," Hinata spoke up, causing Ino to briefly panic, as she wondered if she had spoken her thoughts aloud. "I...I was wondering...if I could...well...ask you a question." Ino felt her body relax as her previous embarrassment began to subside. "It's personal...but...I...I don't know who else to turn to..." Hinata continued.

"We can go to my house," Ino suggested, "It's not far from here."

Hinata swiftly nodded, however she wasn't able to offer any kind of eye contact.

Once they were at Ino's mother's flower shop, she led Hinata up to her bedroom. Fortunately her parents were away. The shop was closed for the day. Ino would be able to give Hinata all of her attention, which would distract her from the incident with Sakura.

Ino sat down on her bed and Hinata sat beside her, however the ravenette continued to stare down at her hands. "Sooooo, what did you need to talk about?" Ino asked.

"Well, um...you seem like a very flirty girl...and I was...uh...wondering if you...had um...well, how do you make someone...want to kiss you?" Hinata's voice fell softer with every word she spoke. There was something about the way Hinata worded her question that made Ino feel so incredibly...uncomfortable.

An awkward laugh broke from her lips as she suddenly answered, "You make me sound like a slut."

"I'm so sorry!" Hinata swiftly apologized. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Ino fanned her hand in a dismissive manner. "It's alright," she spoke up, causing Hinata to heave a heavy sigh of relief. That's when Ino found herself asking, "Why the sudden interest?"

Hinata's face was incredibly red at that point, and Ino was surprised that the girl hadn't fainted.

"Do you like someone?" Ino asked.

A squeak left Hinata's lips.

"You don't have to tell me who," Ino quickly added, causing Hinata's body to relax a little more. Ino kept her eyes ahead as she tried to think more about the question. "Well, I guess if you wanted to make someone want to kiss you, then you would need to give him a lot of eye contact. Tease him a little, play with your lips. You want to make him want to kiss you."

"But...what if you never...well...um..." Hinata's voice trailed off.

"You've never kissed anyone?" Ino asked with a light laugh, causing Hinata to sink even more into her shell. "Don't feel bad. I doubt that Tenten or Sakura have kissed anyone."

"Sakura-chan...seems very close to Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered with a heavy sadness mixed into her voice.

"Sakura doesn't like Naruto," Ino assured her, but Hinata didn't seem any happier.

"Or you could...learn how?" Ino suddenly suggested, causing Hinata to swiftly look over in her direction, as though what she mentioned was completely out of the question. "If it's a secret, then Naruto won't have to find out."

"But...who would help me practice?" Hinata mumbled as she continued to stare down at her hands. Her body language was stiff and completely closed off from the blonde, causing her to frown. Even though Ino found herself feeling insecure, Hinata took it to a new extreme.

"What about Shino or Kiba?" Ino suddenly asked, however Hinata shook her head.

"I...I wouldn't want to make things complicated," she tried to explain. "I'm...sorry...I'm sorry I'm such a bother. I...I shouldn't have said anything."

Ino suddenly turned Hinata's face towards her, and kissed her. The other girl hesitated at first, but Ino continued to hold her there, allowing her tongue to stroke against hers. Hinata's lips were much softer than any boy she had ever kissed. It was a little exciting how her body felt against Hinata's. Even though they were clothed, Ino felt her body tense up.

It was only when Hinata's gasped for air that Ino pulled away. Even she was blushing out of embarrassment, and it took a lot to make Ino feel bashful.

"Well, um, I guess that's your first lesson," Ino told her with a slight cough.

"So...you'll teach me how to kiss like that?" Hinata asked, showing that she believed Ino's lie.

Seeing no point in telling on herself, Ino nodded. "I'll even teach you how to be more likeable, and you'll have the relationship you've always wanted." Hinata suddenly wrapped her arms around Ino and hugged her tightly, catching the blonde off guard. Slowly Ino hugged her back, however it was difficult to not to think about the kiss.

Why was her mind all over the place lately?

As a shinobi, she needed to focus. As a teacher, she needed to be professional...even if she was teaching Hinata to kiss, she couldn't take advantage of her. As Sakura's rival, she had to control her jealousy. She didn't know why, but she wanted to control Sakura...she wanted to show that she was stronger. Somehow she had to bring her into submission.

"Can...can we practice again?" Hinata suddenly asked, before quickly adding, "I hope that doesn't make me sound like a pervert! I want to get it right...I was so surprised before that I'm not sure I did it right..."

So Ino leaned in and pressed her lips to Hinata's. This time she made her movements a bit slower and more gentle, so that Hinata could keep up with her. She slid her hand to the side of Hinata's face, to brush a few of the longer strands of black hair out of the way. She nibbled at her lips, before sucking slightly upon the other girl's tongue. Hinata had kissed her back, doing all that she could to keep up. She could feel the other girl slide closer to her until they were laying on her bed. As they kissed, Ino trailed her fingers down Hinata's jacket, unzipping it to reveal the mesh undershirt. Ino's fingers trailed against the netting, before teasing her hardening bud. It wasn't until a soft moan broke from Hinata's lips, that the dark haired girl realized what was going on.

Immediately she was embarrassed and sat up.

"I...I'm sorry," Hinata apologized before swiftly standing up.

"Wait, but what about the lesson?" Ino quickly asked.

"I...I...I'm sorry," Hinata voiced after she couldn't find any other words. She bowed her head, so she wouldn't have to give Ino any form of eye contact. "I really appreciate all that you're doing for me, but I...I can't."

"I promise no one will find out!" Ino blurted out, however Hinata shook her head.

Ino's body was on fire, she wanted to continue, but then remembered that Hinata was a girl. She liked Naruto...and she probably crossed a line. As much as she hated it, she looked down towards the ground.

"I'm sorry," she forced herself to apologize.

Hinata bowed her head once again as she sputtered out more apologies before hurrying out of her bedroom. Ino waited a moment before going after her. By the time she had made it downstairs, Hinata was already gone. She opened the front door of the shop and peered out to see if she saw the Hyuuga running off. Unfortunately Hinata was nowhere to be seen. Ino turned to go back inside, however noticed a note pinned to the door. Carefully she tugged it down to see it was written in Sakura's handwriting.

Ino

I guess you're not home. I guess I'll try back later.

I just want you to know...I don't hate you. Let me

help you.

-Sakura

Ino balled up the later and moved inside, closing the door behind her. "Stupid, why are you so stupid?" Ino whispered as she threw the note away. What made it worse was that she didn't know if she was talking about Sakura...or herself. All she wanted was to clear her thoughts.


	2. Stomachache

Chapter Two

"Stomachache"

* * *

Ino showed up at the training field earlier than her teammates. She held onto a couple of kunai, and skillfully started running about the field, jumping and flipping to a series of acrobatic maneuvers, while throwing the kunai at the targets. Whenever she missed a target, she would start again. She worked on her angles and continued to push her physical attacks, believing that they were her weakest point. However, Ino didn't think that yesterday's performance was even close to her typical skill level.

"Ino," she soon heard Asuma-Sensei call out, causing her to quickly glance over, to seem him casually walking toward her. It wasn't unusual for him to be this laid-back. However she hadn't expected him to be early. "The Hokage needs you," he explained. "She's calling for all of the Kunoichi for a special announcement. I think it may be medical related. Can you handle it."

"Of course," she answered without any hesitation, however that didn't change the fact that she would have to be around Sakura. Ino didn't bother asking for Shika to come with her, even though she desperately wanted to talk to him. "I can do this," she told herself as she continued to walk down the dirt road that led to the Hokage's headquarters. However she felt a little awkward when she saw Sakura standing at the doorway. What made even worse was that the girl was obviously waiting for her. Ino had debated on slowing down her pace, but knew it would be obvious that she was avoiding the other girl.

"Ino," Sakura spoke up.

"Sakura," Ino replied with a bit of a laugh. "Eh heh, I saw your note."

"Do...you want to talk after the meeting?" Sakura asked.

"Wait, the meeting wasn't some kind of set up?" Ino immediately asked, causing Sakura to give her a strange look. "Nevermind," Ino awkwardly laughed as she walked into the building as well. Ino didn't know why, but walking beside Sakura, caused her heart to increase in speed. She didn't glance over at the pink haired girl; instead she kept her gaze ahead.

"I saw Hinata-chan leave your house," Sakura spoke up. "Are the two of you friends?"

"We're both part of the Konoha 11, so I guess we are," Ino tried to explain, without going into too much detail. "She was mostly asking me for advice."

"Ino-chan," she heard Hinata's soft cry out, causing both girls to glance back. Hinata ran over to the two, with her hands swinging out to her sides. When she had finally caught up to them, her colorless eyes only glanced over towards Sakura as she greeted, "Good morning, Sakura-chan." "Good morning," Sakura replied, and then Hinata immediately turned her attention towards Ino.

"Ino-chan, do you think we could...help me...again?" she timidly asked, causing Ino to blush. "If not, then I...um...I would understand."

"It's-" before Ino could say the word 'fine', Sakura spoke up, "Ino is actually helping me out with something. But it shouldn't take long."

"Oh..." Hinata softly answered before slipping back into her shell.

"Don't listen to Sakura. I'll gladly help you," Ino told her.

Sakura glanced over, unsure of what Ino was doing, especially after the blonde stepped in front of Hinata and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Because what you're working on is really important," Ino explained. "So how about I find you? At sunset we can meet up at the bridge, okay?" Hinata nodded, and swiftly grabbed a hold of both of Ino's hands. "Thank you, thank you so much." The dark haired girl bowed her head before heading off towards the Hokage's office.

Sakura stared at Ino for a brief moment, unsure of what to say.

Ino didn't know what to say either. Even though she felt proud of displaying that she had a closer friend than Sakura, she felt awkward at the same time. She felt as though she was betraying the other girl, and yet she couldn't understand why. Just as she couldn't understand why she couldn't control her words. The next thing Ino knew, she was saying things like, "Maybe you could use this as a chance to know your teammates better? What was the new one named? Sai? I mean, he looks just like Sasuke."

If looks could kill, Sakura would have murdered Ino with the glare she shot her. She didn't say anything, but continued into the office. Ino followed shortly behind.

Inside of the room, she saw a variety of female ninjas from the village. She even saw Tenten and Kurenai-sensei. Tsunade was sitting behind her desk, as Shizune stood by her side.

"I've gathered you all here to discuss a matter of safety," Tsunade started to explain, as she propped her elbows upon the desk, and trailed her eyes from each girl, one by one, until her gaze fell on Ino. Ino wasn't sure if it was because of where she was standing, or if she was being singled out. "As you know, our operatives are working as hard as they can to discover more information about the Akatsuki. However there is another incident that has only targeted the kunoichi. Several female ninjas were found dead on the outskirts of the village, nude, bruised, mutilated and obviously raped. What is odd about the situation is that something bizarre has occurred with their chakra network. Unfortunately there isn't much information available on who is doing this, how many villages were targeted or what their overall goal is. I want you to stay safe."

Tenten swiftly rose her hand. When Tsunade acknowledged her, the weapon specialist immediately asked, "Are you going to send out any teams to investigate? It seems a little weird if we just stay put in one spot. Won't that make us sitting ducks?"

"Don't you realize how dangerous that is?!" Shizune blurted out, as she held tightly to her little piggy. "You guys are the targets!"

"Once we find out what jutsu the enemy is using, then we'll send out teams," Tsunade voiced, causing Shizune to gasp in disapproval. "Until further notice, none of you are permitted to go anywhere alone, especially closer to the outskirts of the village. It's not that we doubt your abilities as ninja, I simply don't want to lose any brilliant Kunoichi when we're so close to finding out the whereabouts of Orochimaru, as well as discovering the layer of the Akatsuki."

After the announcement, the girls were dismissed, however Tsunade voiced that she wanted Hinata, Sakura and Ino to stay behind. "The three of you are brilliant when it comes to your Chakra control. Sakura, you're my apprentice and one day will surpass me in Medical Ninjutsu. Hinata, you are a master of the Kekagenki, the Byakugan. Ino, you were always at the top of your class and are in your own unique category. I think the three of you working with Shizune, will come in handy in the near future. Be prepared to receive a mission. Don't worry, your team leaders will be notified."

"Right," each girl voiced, however Ino wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of being on a team with both Sakura and Hinata. Just as Ino didn't know why she was selected in the first place. Even if she was always at the top of her class and mastered a variety of types of jutsu, she wasn't a genius like Shikamaru. She didn't have the physical strength of Chouji.

As they were walking out, Ino couldn't help but notice Hinata continue to glance over in Sakura's direction, however no words were spoken. They only walked in silence, until Sakura spoke up. "If you guys really need to meet up with each other...then I guess I could try to find Naruto to train against. Sometimes he summons his clones and-"

"Are you and Naruto-kun close?" Hinata suddenly asked, causing Sakura to give her a puzzled expression.

"Of...course?" the girl chuckled slightly before explaining, "We're both members of Team 7, it only makes sense that we're friends."

"Do you like him?" Hinata hesitantly asked.

Sakura didn't answer at first and lightly laughed before looking ahead as she thought back to Naruto's crazy antics. "He's definitely different. I guess he inspires me in ways I never expected...that's why I want to bring Sasuke back for him, so he can stop searching and focus on accomplishing his dreams. When Naruto says that he'll be Hokage one day, I can't help but believe him. I just want to help him accomplish all of that."

Hinata fell silent for a moment and Ino glanced between both girls wondering if Hinata would admit her feelings for Naruto or not. Although now she wondered if Sakura had a crush on Naruto as well.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before Sakura-chan?" Hinata suddenly asked, however her voice remained soft and timid, despite the hint of bitterness present.

"It's funny that you ask that," Sakura awkwardly laughed, "What, have you?"

Hinata didn't answer and continued walking, causing Sakura to wrinkle her brows for a moment before glancing over at Ino. "I wonder why she would ask something like that."

"You haven't kissed Naruto or Sasuke?" Ino asked, however Sakura shook her head. "They've kissed each other on accident, but beyond that, no I haven't...I haven't had time for relationships or anything like that. You?"

"I've had a few relationships," Ino admitted. "Nothing special."

"Are you still...um...a virgin?" Sakura suddenly asked.

"WHOA! Where did that come from?" Ino started laughing before patting Sakura on the shoulder. "Anyways, if you didn't have something you wanted to specifically talk to me about, I should probably head back to Asuma-Sensei."

Sakura pushed open the door to the tiny bathroom, and gestured for Ino to come inside. Once she was in the room, Sakura closed the door behind her. "I couldn't think of anywhere else...that was private," Sakura explained before glancing over at the door, before looking back towards the blonde. "It's about yesterday."

Ino could already feel herself beginning to panic.

"Did you really think that I act like...I'm the best thing that happened to anyone?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Ino wanted to tell her that she didn't mean it, and that Sakura was the best thing that happened to her, however the blonde found herself rolling her eyes. "Ever since you started working under Tsunade, you've turned into a little _princess._"

"But you train under her as well!" Sakura argued.

"You're obviously the favorite!" Ino snapped. "You're everyone's favorite! God, Sakura, you're not even pretty!"

Sakura stared at Ino in disbelief, as pain was present in her eyes. "Ino-pig-chan," Sakura forced herself to say with a bitter laugh. "You really are a boar."

"Oh yeah?!" Ino snapped as she placed herself directly in Sakura's personal space, so that she was able to glare the pink haired girl directly in the eyes. Although that's when she was able to see that Sakura's green eyes weren't filled with hatred...but tears.

"I thought you wanted me to blossom?" Sakura whispered as she fought against the urge to sob. "I thought you wanted to have more confidence and to push myself?" She wiped her eyes with one of her hands, however her body was now trembling as well. "You told me that I was pretty...I...I didn't realize that you were only lying."

Ino felt that sickening feeling twist in the pit of her stomach. Sakura started crying, even though she was trying not to. Even though Ino was trying to distance herself from the other girl, she suddenly hugged Sakura as hard as she could. The pink haired girl hugged her back and cried into her shoulder.

_'I wish I could explain what these weird feelings are...Sakura...I wish I could tell you why I've been such a bitch,'_ she thought as she continued to hug the other. Sakura rarely cried in front of anyone. After Sasuke had left, she voiced that she crying was a sign of weakness. Ino knew that Sakura was determined to keep up with Naruto and his level of growth. One of the things she couldn't do...was openly cry. Hearing her cry now, made Ino want to cry. The sound of those sobs made Ino want to hate herself, and yet, holding Sakura close like this...made her want to never part from her.

"I'm sorry," Ino whispered in Sakura's ear. "I...I don't know what's been up with my head lately...I'm..."

Sakura wasn't listening and stepped back. Tears stained her cheeks, as her puffy eyes continued to stare at Ino. "Why?" she asked, "Why Ino? Why do you hate me?"

_'I don't know,'_ trailed her thoughts, but she knew she couldn't voice that. "I don't," she told her. "We're friends, but as rivals-"

"Fuck being rivals!" Sakura snapped. "Why do we have to compete?! Why can't we just work together?! Isn't that what you said after we fought in the Chunins? Why do we have to let one boy turn us into enemies?! Don't you remember that, Ino?"

Ino suddenly kissed Sakura, cutting her off. The kiss was short and brief, but enough to surprise the other girl. Ino was surprised at herself as well. Sakura touched her lip, unsure of what just happened. Without another word, Ino left the bathroom, leaving Sakura standing there. She was puzzled. Ino felt embarrassed. Why did she keep kissing girls? What was wrong with her...?


	3. Heartache

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Three

Heartache

* * *

_'She kissed me...' _trailed Sakura's thoughts as she laid on her bed. She stared over at the picture of Team 7 that was placed upon her nightstand. Out of all of the people she spent time with, she had never expected Ino to be her first kiss. Ino was her rival and yet at the same time, her best friend. She felt so conflicted and confused, and yet she couldn't take her mind off of it. Part of her wondered if this was how Naruto felt. He and Sasuke were rivals, but at the same time best friends, and Sakura was sure they would do anything for each other. Even though Sasuke has fallen...

Did Ino still like Sasuke? Her heart started to pound harder in her chest. Was the kiss a taunt? Did Ino hate her so much that she would steal away her first kiss; robbing all that was special from the moment? The pink haired teen clutched her pillow even tighter as she fought the urge to cry. She was a shinobi. Ninjas don't cry.

"Sakura," her mother's voice called out from behind her door, causing the girl to quickly push herself up. "Yes?" she answered. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, and moved over to the door to open it. There she saw her mom smiling warmly towards her.

"There's a boy at the door who wants to see you."

Sakura didn't know who it could be, however hurried downstairs. To her surprise she saw Naruto standing there with his ever so present cheesy grin.

"Naruto?" she began, unsure of why he was here.

"Sakura-chan, you seemed really stressed today, so I wanted to know if you wanted to go to Ichiraku's? I'm sure it'll make you feel better." He was so carefree. Sakura didn't know how he was able to be so carefree, when the person who gave him his first kiss was noted as a missing-nin. It was funny...because Sakura had always imagined Sasuke as being her first kiss. Sakura didn't feel as though any aspects of her life were going as according to plan. As stressed as she felt, she wanted to be able to smile as cheerfully as Naruto always had. Once they were seating on their stools, and their ramen order had been placed, Sakura found herself glancing over at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto," she spoke up, causing him blink. "Does it bother you that Sasuke was your first kiss? Like, is it weird...because you're a boy and he's a boy?" She shouldn't have asked that. Sasuke was a taboo subject.

"SHHHHH!" Naruto immediately said before awkwardly laughing and glancing around to make sure no one had heard her. He suddenly whispered rather quickly, "Not everyone knows that!" He was embarrassed. He was blushing, and then he must have realized what she was asking. He started laughing and rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not like that," he claimed as his blue eyes darted away. Sasuke was always such a tricky subject. Then that's when Sakura found herself wondering what she would do if Ino ever decided to become a rogue ninja and leave the village. How would she handle knowing that Ino had go off to someone like Orochimaru?

"Are you making fun of me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto suddenly asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It's weird that you'd...suddenly ask about Sasuke."

She didn't know what to say, after all, she couldn't tell him that Ino had kissed her. She couldn't mention that she liked it. _'I liked it...oh god, I liked it,_' she realized. Even though Ino had been so cruel to her, she liked the kiss. It was weird. Ino and Hinata don't even talk and rarely pass by each other...how did they know each other?

"I'm sorry if I stole that kiss from you, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized, causing a sickening feeling of guilt to swell within her entire being.

"It's not that," she told him.

"Then what is it?" he asked.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan...I...I didn't expect to see both of you here," Hinata spoke up, causing both to glance over and see the dark haired girl. She pressed her index fingers together and refused to give either eye contact.

"Hinata-chan, are you...going to eat with us?" Sakura asked, however there an awkward tension. She didn't know why, but she felt uneasy about the other girl being there. "I thought you and Ino were hanging out."

"I...we...I had wanted to talk to Naruto-kun and..." Hinata forced herself to say, however suddenly realized that Naruto was immediately distracted by the Ramen that was placed in front of him and Sakura. "I'm...I'm sorry for interrupting. Please forgive me," Hinata softly voiced before running off.

"I wonder why she left," Naruto spoke up.

"You said that Captain Yamato was coming?" Sakura stated.

"Yeah, he said he would come by after visiting Kaka-Sensei in the hospital," Naruto explained eating some of his ramen.

"But you don't have to apologize," Sakura told him, "Just so you know, I've already had my first kiss."

Naruto laughed, "Who?"

"AND WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" she snapped as she punched him in the arm, he didn't stop laughing. "Don't forget who your first kiss was!" The moment she said that, he shut up, and flailed his arms, "_Sakura-chaaaannnn_"

Sakura wasn't able to ask Naruto anything more about his kiss with Sasuke. However she did a little better. Naruto didn't let his kiss with Sasuke define him. Then again, their kiss was an accident. Did it even count? Did Ino's kiss mean anything? Why did she kiss her in the first place?

As she was walking back to her house she couldn't help but think back to what Tsunade had told them. Very soon she would be on a mission with Ino. Sakura was rarely placed on missions that only involved girls. Why wouldn't her heart stop pounding against her chest. Why couldn't she stabilize her thoughts? She moved over to Ino's home and knocked on the door of the flower shop before entering. She saw only two customers, and noticed that Ino was helping her mother work on the flower orders.

"Sakura-chan," Ino's mother had greeted, and Sakura made sure to politely bow her head, before asking, "Is it possible that I borrow Ino for a moment?"

"I'm really busy, Sakura," Ino tried to explain, but Sakura wasn't about to give up.

"Ino, it's alright. I can handle these last two," Ino's mother voiced as she handed off one of the remaining orders to her customer. So Ino hesitantly led Sakura upstairs. Sakura had been to Ino's room several times before in the past, but for some reason she felt nervous this time.

"Are you worried about the mission?" Sakura asked, trying to make small talk. "It seems a little weird that Lady Tsunade would want to send out Kunoichi to fight our opponents if they're targeting only female ninja..."

"What do you want, Sakura?" Ino asked once the door was closed.

Sakura could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

"I wanted to make sure we're still friends, and that you're feeling okay," she tried to explain. "You've been a little weird lately."

"Weird?" Ino questioned, already sounding highly offended. "I'm the _weird_ one?"

"Do you want me?" Sakura hesitantly asked her. Her face was severely red. Her gaze continued to dart, but she fought as hard as she could to keep her attention on Ino. Even she seemed embarrassed about the conversation. Even she seemed severely uncomfortable about what she was being asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Ino found herself asking.

"Why did you kiss me?" Sakura asked.

"It just happened," Ino told her.

"Did it?" Sakura interrogated.

Ino's body language revealed how embarrassed she was. What Ino didn't realize was that Sakura enjoyed the kiss. She didn't know that she wanted the chance to kiss her back. If it weren't mutual, then it didn't count. If that were the case, then maybe Naruto would be relieved to know that his kiss might not count. _'He didn't seem annoyed about it...so maybe it's fine...maybe I'll be okay? Naruto, you're such an idiot, but you know how to make things...not so complicated,'_ she thought to herself before tilting her head and pressing her lips to Ino's. Her lips felt so soft against hers. Ino's chest felt wonderful against her own. Sakura didn't know what she was doing, but didn't stop, and allowed her body to maintain the kiss. She tried tasting deeper and deeper into her mouth as her arms hugged Ino close to her. She was pulled onto the bed, where Sakura found herself ontop of the other girl. She kissed down her neck, upon her shoulder, as her hand playfully groped one of Ino's lumps of loveliness.

She could hear Ino moan softly into the air. That sound excited Sakura even more than she could imagine. Her body felt as though it were on fire. She wanted to feel Ino against her. She wanted to grind her body as hard as she could into her.

She wondered what this meant. Did that mean that things would change between her and Ino? Were they still friends? Or...would they become something more?

Ino tugged up Sakura's shirt from over her head, causing the pink haired girl to blush heavily. After all, she often felt self-conscious about her small chest, however Ino leaned up playfully kissed at the fabric of her bra, teasing the little bud. Sakura's body had never hurt as badly as it did right now. The more she wanted Ino, the more it hurt. Then suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Ino," her mother called out.

Sakura and Ino scrambled about to try and redress themselves.

"Yeah?" Ino called out, however Sakura could hear a weird quality to her voice. She could tell that Ino's body was possibly aching as well.

"Hinata-chan is here, she said you were supposed to help with something?"

There were a good two seconds before Ino said anything. At one moment she glanced over at Sakura then towards the door, before calling out, "Uh, in one moment!"

"What are you and Hinata...doing?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," Ino awkwardly laughed. "It's nothing important."

Sakura had wanted to hug Ino, but didn't know if it would be counted as being clingy or not. She wanted to tell Ino to reschedule whatever she was doing with Hinata, but knew that wasn't fair. After all, it was her, who showed up unannounced. She wondered if it was bad that she didn't care.

"I'll see you later, Ino," Sakura told her.

"Bye, Sakura."

They stood there for a moment. It was if both girls were waiting for the other to make the first move. So with a deep breath, Sakura turned and walked out of the room, and entered the hall that led to the stairwall. That's when she saw Hinata coming up the steps. When their eyes met, both girls stopped walking. Sakura couldn't explain why she felt so awkward or uncomfortable. What was it about Hinata that made her want to crawl under a rock. She forced herself to smile. "Good evening, Hinata-chan."

"Good evening," Hinata softly greeted.

"That's cool that you and Ino are good friends now," Sakura continued, "I hope that you and I can be better friends."

Hinata didn't say anything, but continued to stand there.

So Sakura hesitantly started walking down the stairs, although it was as she passed Hinata, she heard the girl say, "Why are you so selfish?"

Sakura stopped and glanced over. "Selfish?"

"You chased after Sasuke-kun, as Naruto-kun and Lee-kun both chased after you..." Hinata softly explained. "You're...selfish."

"I'm...I'm not," Sakura tried to explain. "What I had for Sasuke was a little crush, and I don't even like Rock Lee or that Knucklehead-Naruto."

Hinata glared over in Sakura's direction, causing her blood to run cold. She had never seen Hinata look so angry...

"You don't deserve anyone," Hinata coldly told her in her usual soft tone. "...not even Ino as a friend."

Even with Sakura's usual hot-headed temper, she didn't snap at Hinata. Instead she forced herself to smile. "Well, I should be going Hinata-chan. I hope Ino is able to help you with whatever it is that she does with you."

Hinata glanced back down to the floor, so that her eyes were hidden behind her bangs.

Little did they realize that elsewhere, a hawk landed on Hokage's window seal with a note attached to his leg. Shizune took careful need to retrieve the letter, before handing it off to the Tsunade. "Two more girls have been found," Tsunade announced as tossed the letter over to the side. "If we're going to lure out these ninjas, then we need to move fast."

"But it's dangerous!" Shizune protested. "You don't know anything about it! Surely you'll send more people on this mission than just Sakura, Ino, Hinata and myself!"

"If I send a boy, there's a chance the we won't get the results that we want," Tsunade explained. "We need bait. The only boy that I would think about sending with you is Naruto, because of his _jutsu_, but even he would be a bit of a handful. There's no telling how long he can keep up that perverted jutsu of his."

Shizune didn't look relieved...at all.

"I can't send Kunenai. If I understand correctly, she's pregnant. Then again, there's TenTen. She may be able to do. Anko's busy- Shizune, any boy that we send on this mission would have disguise themselves as a girl, which may compromise the mission. All we need to know is where they're staying and what their overall goal is."

"Yes, M'lay," Shizune reluctantly agreed.

"I can send TenTen if you like," Tsunade offered, "But she may be on a mission with Guy."

"We'll be fine," Shizune forced herself to reply. "When will the mission begin?"

"Tonight," Tsunade explained. "Take them on a little camping trip."

* * *

**OoC:** Hey you guys, I hope you're enjoying the story! This is my first fanfiction in a very long time, so I hope everything's sounding okay. Lol. Anywho, Reviews are definitely appreciated! Also I'm curious about which pairings you guys like more: InoSaku, InoHina or SakuHina? Bai Bai!


	4. Muscle-Aches

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Four

Muscle-Aches

* * *

Hinata didn't know why she felt guilty...she felt as though she owed Sakura an apology, even though there were many things that she had wanted to say, but didn't. If only she weren't so shy. If she were free...she was sure that she would be more likeable. She was sure that Naruto would finally notice her. All she could think about was what Naruto said to Sakura about stealing her kiss. Hinata was trying so hard to push herself out of shell, but Sakura was always a couple of steps ahead of her.

She sat on the side of Ino's bed and stared down at her hands as her tears rolled down her cheeks and hit her bare arms. She wasn't wearing her jacket, revealing that her shirt was made entirely of mesh. If she sat with better posture, then her tears would have plopped right against her large breasts. Even though Ino had complimented them, Hinata felt as if it was another part of her imperfection.

She hated feeling guilty like this.

Ino walked into the room holding a tray. Upon the tray were two small cups of tea.

"I'm surprised that you still want to practice," Ino admitted as she handed one of the tiny tea cups to Hinata, before taking one for herself. Then that's when she must have noticed the saddened expression on Hinata's face. "What's wrong?"

Hinata parted her lips but no words came out, instead she started to cry.

Swiftly Ino set down her cup, and moved over to Hinata's side. Carefully she brushed the ravenette's hair away from her face, tucking the long strands behind her ear. Without all of the hair, she was able to see the full extent of Hinata's sadness. "Why are you crying? You did really good, I promise." However Hinata shook her head and held her hands to shield her chest, without dropping the cup.

"I...I feel bad about doing this...forcing you to do this," Hinata admitted with a sob. "Especially...since I know...that you...you wouldn't want to...I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

"Hinata," Ino spoke up, causing the dark haired girl to slowly glance over at her. "I don't usually go around complimenting anyone, but you're really pretty. You just need a little more confidence. Believe in yourself."

The moment Ino said those words, her eyes widened as if she remembered something.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata asked, however Ino swiftly shook her head. "No. I'm fine. You should drink your tea, it'll help boost your chakra levels, then we need to meet up with Hokage-sama."

Hinata nodded.

It wasn't long before they were in the Hokage's office. It was night, and their only source of light was the small lamp that stood in the corner. Shizune was dressed in her dark green Jounin vest, just as they soon saw noticed that Tenten was present as well.

"Alright everyone, as you know, you will be under Shizune's command," Tsunade explained.

"And don't worry, Tenten has already been filled in on everything," Shizune added when she noticed that Sakura kept glancing over at the weapons specialist. Tenten waved back in a childish manner before focusing her attention once more on Tsunade.

"You'll investigate the five points where bodies have been found, and I want you to gather any form of evidence you can," Tsunade explained.

"Do...you think that um...that Shino or Kiba would be helpful?" Hinata asked.

"No. We have reason to believe that if our opponents realize that the team isn't made up of only Kunoichi, they may not reveal themselves. Don't worry, I will have a few Anbu Operatives on stand-by, what I need from the five of you is information about our enemy. Avoid combat at any cost."

Hinata stared once more down at her hands. She wanted to ask for permission to be removed from the team, but couldn't find the words. Like everyone else, she agreed to take on the mission. Passing through the gate, made her feel even more antsy, she glanced over at TenTen, who seemed fairly carefree about everything. The weapons expert was even humming a little melody to herself. Hinata wished that she could be so carefree. Then that's when Tenten realized that Hinata was staring and made a playfully silly face, causing the girl to quickly retreat her gaze to the ground.

It wasn't long until they were deep in forest, where the trees stood as giants, blocking out their view of the stars. Shizune led them to a spot where the ground was lined with broken branches, and there were torn fabrics of someone's clothes, as well as splattered blood. "This is where the first girl was found," Shizune told them very quietly.

"Why were they in the woods in the first place?" Sakura asked.

"We can only assume that they were on a mission," Shizune replied.

"What about their teammates?" Ino brought up. "Ninja are never placed on teams by themselves."

Shizune appeared troubled, as though she weren't certain.

"You said that there were four people murdered, so that's four different teams. Did the other members of the team have anything so say?" Ino asked.

Shizune quickly tugged out her notebook from her pouch, and used a tiny flare as a light so that she could read the statements. "The other members of all four teams were men, and-" Shizune cut herself off, as if something became clear to her that she hadn't noticed before.

"Shizune-senpai?" Hinata began.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked.

"All of the men mentioned having a fuzzy sense of memory. They have no recollection of what happened of most of their missions, however three individuals did remember going to a hot spring."

"Hot spring?" Sakura questioned. "But we don't have any nearby."

"That's not true," Hinata spoke up, "Um...Kurenai-sensei once took us to a hot spring that wasn't far from here. It was many years ago though..."

"I know what you're talking about," Ino agreed. "Apparently it's a resort that's been recently renovated, and have a new bath. Something about these special strawberries that are supposed to cure diseases."

"I think I've seen that place," Tenten spoke up excitedly. "Guy-sensei says that if we train hard enough, he may take us there. Unless-he-only-means-that-we'll-go-there-to-train-harder! No! Shizune-senpai, we should go now!"

"Especially if it's for training!" Ino beamed happily as she grabbed a hold of Tenten's hands.

"I...I wouldn't mind going as well," Hinata spoke up.

"I mean, it only makes sense that we would need to investigate!" Ino added.

Both Sakura and Shizune fell silent. Shizune, because this wasn't apart of the plan, and Sakura...because she was the only girl who hadn't heard of the hot spring resort. Unfortunately Shizune had no way to contact Tsunade. For the sake of the mission, she agreed to take them to hotsprings. They traveled swiftly through the forest, leaping from branch to branch. It wasn't long until they reached the resort. Even though it was late at night, they were permitted to stay, and given kimonos to dress their bodies in. The woman who ran the resort was very pale and had long black hair, that was pulled up in a messy bun. Her breasts were very small, as her body was incredibly thin. Her voice was very soft, and overall gave Sakura a bad feeling.

The woman's name was Kojima Yasu, and she spoke highly of their special strawberry bath. Like Ino had said, it was rumored to cure diseases, almost as if it were made with a miracle elixir.

"Do you need five rooms?" Yasu asked.

Shizune hesitated to answer, after all, the entire point was that they would stay together.

"They are very nice," Yasu continued. "And the five of you are the only ones checked in. Due to the recent events, I haven't had much business."

"Shizune-senpai...if you did pair us up, who would you stick together?" Hinata found herself asking.

Shizune looked over the group, and found herself feeling even more conflicted. She didn't know which girls worked together and which ones didn't. "Who wants to a share a room with who?"

"Ino," both Hinata and Sakura said at the same time, causing both Hinata and Sakura to appear surprised, Ino to look embarrassed and Tenten felt uncomfortable.

"Awkward," Tenten muttered.

"Oh dear," Shizune mumbled, before glancing over towards Tenten. "Who do you want to share with?"

"Do I have first dibs?" Tenten asked. Shizune nodded, so Tenten said, "Ino."

"Um, Shizune-senpai, I don't mind sharing with Tenten-san," Hinata offered.

"What about two rooms?" Shizune suggested. "One for myself, and the four of them can all share."

Yasu nodded, then led them off to one of the larger rooms. It wasn't long before rolled out the bedding so that there was enough for each girl, before showing Shizune to her own room.

"Ah, no fair, I wanted to be stuck with Ino," Tenten said, however there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. So Ino playfully moved over and grabbed the girl by her shoulders and nuzzled her face to the side of hers. "Awn, and I wanted to be stuck with you too, Tenten~."

Sakura cleared her throat before voicing, "I think we should investigate."

"Yes, I agree, by checking out the hot baths," Ino voiced as she pushed herself up to her feet.

"Ooh, me too!" Tenten agreed before hopping up to her feet as well.

"Um...I would like to go as well..." Hinata spoke up.

Sakura sighed as once again her teammates seemed to forget the severity of their mission.

They were given their towels, and one by one they stepped out to where the bath had been. The rocks surrounding it were beautiful, and there were a vast amount of flowers beautifully scattered upon the entire area. Most of the flowers weren't supposed to be in bloom during this time of year. All of the girls had noticed that.

"Wow," Tenten gasped, "Pretty."

"Oh my," Hinata exclaimed, causing everyone's attention to be drawn towards her. She pointed towards the water. "There are strawberries!" So each girl moved to get a closer look and sure enough there were strawberries littered about the water. Tenten knelt down and moved her hand to pluck one out. The strawberry was sparkling as though it were made of glitter and diamonds. Tenten couldn't take her eyes off of it.

"I think it really is miracle water," Tenten concluded as she handed the strawberry to Sakura.

"Hinata, you should your byakugan," Sakura advised.

"Uh, right," Hinata answered and moved her hands to activate the blood trait, however stopped when they hard Yasu say, "The strawberries an interesting chakra and energy combined with this holy water, can make your dreams come true."

Hinata slowly lowered her hands as Yasu continued.

"If you wish to be smarter, more confident, funnier, _sexier_; then this water can grant all of that. All you need to do is relax and let all of your troubles go," Yasu explained. "It's a secret technique passed down through the Kojima-clan from generation to generation. Would you like to try it out?"

The girls glanced over at each other before moving to the side of the bath. Ino was the first to step her toe into the water.

"My, it's interesting how you cling to your towels. After all, we're all women here, surely you're not ashamed," Yasu added, causing Ino to look down at her towel, then her comrades. Hesitantly she removed her towel and kept her gaze on the water. Hinata couldn't help but find herself staring, then feeling embarrassed about herself. Tenten was the next to remove her towel and stepped into the water, followed by Sakura (although Sakura felt slightly insecure about her chest size). With a deep breath Hinata removed her towel, however her face felt incredibly hot. She could feel eyes upon her, so she quickly shielded her chest before moving into the water. Unfortunately she couldn't keep them from floating up. Sakura felt herself sink deeper into the water from envy.

"Relax," Yasu told them.

So each girl took a deep breath and leaned back.

"Focus on what it is that you want most...and it'll come true," she spoke, as her words were beginning to drift into the wind. Hinata felt her eyelids feeling heavier as her body began to relax. What was it that she wished for?

_To be noticed... to feel desired...to feel beautiful...to feel comfortable in my own body..._

Strangely enough, she wasn't the one...

* * *

**OoC:** Oh snap, cliffhanger! Maybe I'll be able to upload another one tonight! If not, I still hope you guys have a Happy New Year's! ^.^


	5. Everything Aches

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Five

Everything Aches

* * *

Everything felt...heavy, almost as if the world spinning, but she were sitting still. The water so hot that she felt light-headed...and yet at the same time, her entire felt heavy. The colors of the flowers were beginning to blur together. The world looked like a water color painting. Her blue eyes trailed over to where Yasu was standing, however she was gone. Part of her felt as though she should care...however for some reason she couldn't. She was too relaxed.

"These strawberries are delicious," Tenten suddenly announced with an intoxicated laugh.

"My head is racing," Sakura noted, however Tenten suddenly wrapped her arms around her, tugging her into a loving embrace. "You should enjoy it~" Tenten told her. "You know, everyday, all Guy-sensei cares about is training. All I want is one night where I can free! Don't you want that?"

"I...I guess I do," Sakura admitted. "I always have to be the mature one..."

"Not tonight," Tenten beamed. "We can have fun~"

"My body...it hurts," Hinata suddenly gasped, "But I can't explain it."

"Does it hurt-hurt or...?" Ino began.

"My chakra is completely stimulated...and now my body is beginning to feel..." Hinata couldn't finish the statement as her face was completely red. So Tenten moved over to her and took hold of Hinata's arms so that she wasn't able to cover herself anymore. "Be free," Tenten told her before placing a kiss upon her lips. Freedom...that's right. Hinata felt free to love her own body, and slowly found herself hugging Tenten closer to her, so that their curves meshed against each other. However her body continued to ache. Then suddenly Hinata pressed her lips to Tenten's kissing her as deeply as she learned from Ino. The action had caught the weapons specialist off guard, however the effect of the water caused her to dismiss any embarrassment from the act. All she wanted to do was kiss the other girl.

"It's...a genjutsu," Ino whispered as she kissed Sakura's shoulder.

"We...have to stop it," Sakura laughed as her fingers trailed into the water. It wasn't long before a gasp broke from Ino's lips. "I can't stop," Sakura apologized.

"Don't stop," Ino begged as she found herself rocking her hips into Sakura's hand.

"Someone has to disrupt the chakra...flow," Sakura managed to say, however it was difficult for her to think with Ino so close to her like this. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she had seen the other girl _naked_. She hadn't realized how beautiful Ino was, just as Ino hadn't realized how badly she wanted Sakura. At that moment Ino kissed one of Sakura's buds, causing the girl to blush heavily. "They're not very big," she confessed.

"They're perfect the way they are," Ino whispered in between kisses.

Hinata's body ached so badly that she couldn't control the words that broke from her lips as Tenten trailed kisses upon her. It was suddenly that Tenten shifted their positions so that their legs were able to intertwine, and they could grind their bodies into each other. The action had shocked the dark haired girl. Her face was even redder than before, however she welcomed it. A sound broke from her lips. Soft at first, however it grew with intensity. The pleasure that ran through her body was beyond anything that she could control. Tenten couldn't control her moans either, however her high energy forced her to speed up her movements, until spasms shot through her entire being.

"Ino," Hinata gasped, causing Tenten to heave a deep breath. Her body was beginning to slow in pace, but Hinata didn't want her to stop. She wasn't ready to stop. She was so close to her peak. Suddenly the genjutsu stopped and they saw that they were all in the original four corners of the hotsping. Their bodies red from being in the water so long.

"Did you enjoy your bath?" Yasu asked. "All of you looked so peaceful."

No one talked about the bath and returned to the room that they would share. Even though they no one wanted to talk about, the bath was all that they could think about. It was Tenten who finally broke the silence. "I can't believe this! Is there something going on that I should know!"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Why is everyone obsessed with Ino!?" Tenten asked before sitting down on her mat with a huff. "It's like there's some secret club or something!"

"I promise there isn't," Hinata spoke up, however Tenten soon shot a glare over in her direction.

"I thought what happened at the bath was supposed to be fun," Tenten explained. "I didn't expect you to call me, Ino!"

Then that's when Hinata suddenly looked very puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"We were completely...we...we were doing things and you called me Ino," Tenten whined.

However Hinata's confused expression didn't disappear. "But you didnt' touch me...Ino-san did."

"That's impossible," Sakura voiced, "Ino was with me."

"It's the genjutsu," Ino explained as she held onto her head. "It was altering reality."

"Who...who did you see yourself with Ino-san?" Hinata found herself asking.

Ino was silent for a moment as she tried to figure out an answer. Fed up with the situation, Tenten heavily exhaled before stating, "So we know that there's a weird genjutsu. Why?"

"Um," Sakura began, but she couldn't think of any reason why someone would purposely try to make them experience such...perverted things. So Tenten crossed her arms over her chest as she continued, "I don't understand what any of this had to do with our wishes. My wish isn't to have sex with Hinata!"

Hinata felt herself sink deeper into her shell.

"What do you want then?" Ino asked.

"Freedom," Tenten explained. "I want to do something crazy and fun that's waaaaay far away from Guy-sensei's training. I know training is supposed to make me strong, but we do it all of the time."

"Don't you think that touching Hinata-chan is completely different from what you're use to?" Sakura asked, however Tenten pulled her face out of embarrassment. She then glanced away and whispered, "But Hinata is a _girl_..."

"...she's right...I...I am a girl," Hinata mumbled.

"When you were in the bath, did it matter?" Sakura asked. "I mean, if you liked it, then does that make it wrong?"

"I...don't think so," Ino hesitantly spoke up. "I mean...especially if you like the other person."

"So you know what my wish was, what were yours?" Tenten suddenly asked.

"I wanted to feel beautiful," Hinata softly admitted. "I wanted to feel...someone else there...with me...I wanted to not feel shy..."

"I wanted to feel proud of my body," Sakura answered, however sighed lightly when she found herself glancing over at Hinata's massive-sized chest. It took a lot of control not to look down at herself. Fortunately Tenten shifted the attention towards Ino, and asked, "And what was your wish?"

"We..should focus on the investigation," Ino awkwardly laughed. "Tenten, like you asked before, why would someone want to put us under that genjutsu? What would they gain from it?"

"Kojima-san said that the justu was passed down through her family," Hinata reminded.

"But that doesn't explain why they would make something like that," Tenten argued, "What about the fact that all of women who were killed came to this resort first?"

"Or the fact that we haven't seen any signs of our enemy yet..." Sakura added.

"There's something that we're missing," Ino told them. "I think we should-"

Before Ino could finish her statement, there was a knock at the door, causing all of the girls to immediately look over. The strange woman from before, Yasu, was peering in through the crack in the door. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she spoke up.

"No, not at all," Sakura hesitantly told her. "If anything, we thank your hospitality."

"Is there anything that you need?" Yasu asked them.

"No thank you," Tenten answered with a smile. So Yasu bowed her head and slid the door back to a close. No one had to say anything for all of the girls to agree that there was something off about Yasu. Sakura stood to her feet and moved over to the door, and quietly slid it open.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked.

Sakura gestured for the girl to shush before glancing out into the dark hallway. There was no sign of Yasu. Then the pink haired girl tugged the door closed before glancing over towards her teammates. "If the jutsu leaves you aroused, do you think there's a chance that those girls were raped by their teammates?" Sakura suddenly asked.

"How...terrible," Hinata gasped.

"And perhaps the jutsu has a memory altering agent," Sakura continued as she moved away from the door.

"But that doesn't explain Yasu," Ino spoke up. "What is she benefiting from this?"

"Ahh, this is weird," Tenten whined with a cringe. "Yasu must get off_ watching_."

"I haven't figured out why those girls were found in the woods, or why they were butchered they were," Sakura stated calmly. "But I do think we should talk to Shizune-senpai."

So each of the girls moved to their feet, and left the room. Quietly they crept down the dark hallway until they reached the room that Yasu had assigned for the team captain. Sakura took the lead as Hinata slipped closer to Ino, until she was close enough for their hands to brush against each other. Ino's briefly glanced over at the girl, before looking over towards the door. Tenten rolled her eyes, then whispered, "Open it," gesturing to the door.

So Sakura suddenly opened up the door to reveal an empty room.

"Shizune-senpai?" Sakura spoke up. She slowly walked into the dark room and glanced around. Her teammates followed behind her. They searched the room, but there was no sign of the older Medical Ninja.

"Do you need something?" Yasu suddenly said, startling the girls. Swiftly they glanced back, and there standing in the doorway, was the tall, pale skinned woman from before.

"Where is Shizune-senpai?" Tenten asked.

"She's taking a bath," Yasu calmly answered. "You're free to join her if you like. I can even treat you to sake."

"We're only sixteen," Sakura told the woman.

"Then how about desserts?" Yasu asked. "I have a delicious strawberry cheesecake that I would be willing to share."

"No...thank you," Sakura answered with a light laugh. "We should go see our senpai."

Yasu stepped aside so that the girls could pass by. Hinata was the last to exit the room, and couldn't help but glance over at Yasu on her way out. She saw a strange glint in the woman's eyes, and felt her footsteps slow up...until she stopped walking.

Outside, Shizune lightly moaned in delight as she slipped back, further into the heated water. Her face was red, as her eyes were shut to the rest of the world. Her breaths were staggered as moans kept leaving her lips. Sakura rushed out onto the beautifully decorated area, followed by Ino and Tenten. Without any hesitation Sakura rushed over to Shizune's side and started shaking her. "Shizune-senpai," she said, trying to get her attention.

Shizune opened her eyes, and Sakura smiled, glad that Shizune wasn't trapped in the genjutsu. Shizune suddenly turned around and stood so that she and at an equal height with Sakura (even though Sakura was knelt down at the edge). Then suddenly Shizune placed a hand on the side of pink haired girl's face, and stroked her cheek. "Tsunade-sama," Shizune cooed before slipping her face closer to Sakura's to kiss her.

Immediately Sakura's face turned red and she quickly jerked back. "Shizune-senpai!" she exclaimed, unsure of how to feel. Shizune started slowly climbing out of the bath, as playful giggles broke from her lips. "I love the way you order me around," she whispered before shyly tugged some of her short black hair behind her ear.

"Ahh! How do we fix her?" Tenten immediately asked.

"Disrupt her chakra flow," Ino instructed, so Sakura nodded and moved closer to Shizune. However the moment that she got close enough, the dark haired woman wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled her chest. Then that's when Shizune noticed that something wasn't right and she blinked before looking towards Sakura. "Sakura...?" she asked. It only took Shizune a brief moment to remember that she wasn't clothed, and she quickly grabbed her towel.

"Yay, Sakura broke the genjutsu," Tenten cheered.

"I...didn't do anything," Sakura muttered, feeling insecure about her chest size once again.

"I thought you went to bed," Shizune voiced, however she couldn't offer either of them any form of eye contact. Her face was red and she was partially annoyed with herself that she would allow herself to get caught up in her fantasies like that.

"We came to check on you," Ino explained. "There's a strange, perverted genjutsu connected to this hotspring. We think it may be connected with the rapes. Is there any chance that those girls were raped by their teammates?"

Shizune gave them a strange look. "I don't think so. All of the men were tested during the investigation. Their DNA didn't match. However it was confirmed that several men had raped them, before slaughtering them."

The girls looked extremely troubled by this information. Then that's when Shizune realized something. "Where's Hinata...?"

"Hinata...? She was right behind...us...?" Tenten glanced back to see that the ravenette was no where to be seen. "Hinata? Hinata-chan?"

"If the hot spring is connected to the rapes, then we need to find her as soon as possible," Shizune instructed in a rather serious manner. "Sakura, you and Tenten will form one team, while Ino and I will form another. We will meet back at my room in one hour. Hopefully nothing has happened to Hinata-chan."

* * *

**OoC: **Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story. Suspense right? Yeah, I know this chapter was a little naughtier than the others, but eh heh. Shizune gets screen-time! whoo! Anywho, please review! It lets me know that you're enjoying the story. I also like to hear about what your fav. ships are~ ;D


	6. My Mind Shatters

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Six

My Mind Shatters

* * *

Hinata stood in the dark hallway walking slowly. There was chakra all around her, however she couldn't focus on her own. She tugged her hands to her chest rather timidly, as she continued to glance around for any signs of her teammates.

"Hinaaatttaaa-chan," softly slipped through the air no louder than a whisper. Hinata swiftly turned around, however she didn't see anyone, but the darkened hallway that seemed to stretch on till forever.

"Hinnaaattttaaa-chan," she heard repeated.

"Um...who's...who's there?" Hinata called out. "Hello?"

Water dripped down from the ceiling onto the top of her head. She glanced up and squinted her eyes, trying to find the source, however the hallway was too dark. "Hinnnaaatttaaa-chan." Suddenly she felt someone slam her against the wall. Her body suddenly felt numb as her arms were heavy against the wall. It was almost as if there magnets inserted into her limbs, pinning her firmly against the surface.

Hinata struggled against the strange chakra, however couldn't fight it.

"What do you want from me?" Hinata squeaked.

"I have to see if you're compatible," the voice chuckled.

She felt an unseen finger trail down her cheek, chin, neck and finally to her collarbone. Hinata's reddened, as she kept her eyes shut tightly, wishing for it to stop. She could smell the sweet aroma of strawberries.

"This will only hurt a little," the voice told her.

It wasn't long before Hinata yelled, "NOOOOOOO!"

Tenten stopped walking when she could have swore she heard something. She glanced over at Sakura who was peering into every room she happened to come by. However they were all vacant. The brunette moved over and tapped Sakura on the shoulder, causing the medical ninja to glance back. "Did you hear that?" Tenten asked. Sakura frowned out of confusion.

"A scream, did you hear it?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shook her head, before asking, "What direction did it come from?"

Tenten pointed, however didn't see why Sakura hadn't heard it. Then again, Guy-sensei had trained their team always be observant of everything around them, even the faintest sounds. Even then, that didn't explain why Sakura hadn't heard even a hint of something suspicious.

"I guess we can check it out, but I'd really like to examine these rooms a little more," Sakura explained.

"I can just check it out," Tenten suggested, but before she could leave, Sakura grabbed firmly to her arm. "No, that's dangerous!" Sakura protested. "Fine, we can go together, but be on your guard."

Tenten grinned and offered a nod. "You don't have to worry about me!"

They walked down the hallway, carefully watching each other's backs, to prevent anyone from sneaking up on them. The deeper down the hallway the walked, the darker it became. Until finally Tenten stopped walking. Sakura eventually stopped and glanced back at the other girl.

"What?" Sakura whispered.

"Did you feel that?" Tenten asked, now completely on her guard.

But Sakura didn't feel it. The only presence she felt, was Tenten because she was near her. However Tenten was reminding Sakura of a guard dog. She wasn't sure if the girl really had felt someone nearby, or if she was spooked by the shadows. Regardless, Sakura remained quiet as Tenten slowly opened one of the doors. There inside, laying on the floor was Hinata. She was still dressed in her kimono, however the fabric was tugged off of her shoulder. Even the way one of her legs were positioned was suggestive.

"Hinata," Tenten whispered before moving over to the girl.

"Wait, is that Hinata-chan?" Sakura questioned before rushing in as well.

Tenten crouched down beside the unconscious girl and patted her face lightly with her hand. Hinata didn't wake up. Tenten frowned and patted her face a little harder. "Hinata, wake up," the girl urged, but there wasn't any change.

"Maybe I could try some Medical Ninjutsu?" Sakura suggested, but Tenten had a different idea.

Suddenly she placed a hand over Hinata's mouth with one hand, and plugged her nose with another. Sakura couldn't help but look disappointed, and slightly embarrassed from how simple-minded Tenten was, but sure enough Hinata's body jerked as she struggled for air. Her eyes snapped open and she quickly pushed Tenten's hands away so that she could gasp for air.

"Thank goodness," Tenten voiced when Hinata sat up.

Immediately the ravenette was confused, and softly found herself questioning, "What happened?"

"We're not sure," Sakura admitted, "You were unconscious, but Tenten revived you."

Tenten couldn't help but playfully grin with a short laugh.

"Thank you," Hinata voiced, and bowed her head to the other girl. "I really appreciate it. I'm in debt to you."

Tenten patted her head, and stood to her feet. Hinata blinked and looked up at the other girl, surprised that there weren't any special conditions. Instead Tenten only offered a sort of mischievous, carefree smile. At that moment, both Sakura and Hinata realized who Tenten's carefree nature reminded them of. Naruto. The major difference between the two, was that Tenten was a lot more childish than Naruto.

"Do you not want anything?" Hinata asked.

Tenten shook her head. "We're comrades," she explained, "I'm sure you would do the same for me." Then she held out a hand for Hinata, and helped the girl up.

"But that doesn't explain how you knew she was here," Sakura spoke up, causing Tenten to glance over at the girl. For a moment she didn't say anything. She only pondered about the situation. After all, she had a strange gut feeling that she couldn't explain. Something simply told her that Hinata was nearby.

"Maybe it's a new jutsu?" Tenten supposed rather excitedly. "Don't underestimate me Sakura. I may not be a genius like Neji or Lee, but I'm full all sorts of surprises."

"I really appreciate it," Hinata said once more. She was so grateful, that at that moment...Tenten felt that Hinata's smile had sparkled. The brunette wasn't sure how to react. She smiled back, however there was a hint of embarrassment present. "It's alright, Hinata," Tenten told her once again. Then that's when Hinata remembered something important.

"Where's Ino-san?"

Tenten blinked for a moment, unsure of why Hinata would bring up Ino so suddenly. Although that's when she remembered their moment in the hot springs. Hinata...and Ino had a special connection. At least that's what it looked like to Tenten.

"She and Shizune-senpai are teamed up," Sakura explained. "We're supposed to go to Shizune-senpai's room, so that we can show them that we've found you."

Elsewhere, Shizune and Ino continued to search around the springs for any sign of Hinata, however eventually they found themselves back at the bath. Shizune stared suspiciously at the flowers, while Ino appeared rather puzzled. "Shouldn't we...keep looking for Hinata-chan?" Ino spoke up, however Shizune didn't reply. Instead the Medical Ninja moved closer to the flowers, and carefully tugged one down so she could examine it more closely.

"These flowers are coated in chakra," Shizune finally explained.

"I believe it all helps maintain the jutsu," Ino explained, however she found herself glancing back towards the resort. "Do you think the others are okay?"

"Of course," Shizune answered. "The resort isn't as large as it appears from the outside. It shouldn't take Sakura-chan or Tenten-chan long to find Hinata-chan. No, I think the real matter of importance...is finding out more about why this bath works the way it does. I'm sure Tsunade-sama would want as much information as possible."

So Ino crouched down by the water and picked up one of the sparkling strawberries from before. Like Shizune said for the flowers, the strawberry was coated in chakra. As they collected their evidence, Shizune suddenly found herself asking, "So...is something going on between you and Sakura-chan or Hinata-chan?"

Ino almost dropped the strawberry, surprised that Shizune would ask such a thing. Swiftly the blonde glanced over and stammered slightly as she struggled for an answer.

"I...never would have expected it," Shizune continued.

"It's a complicated situation," Ino admitted. "The last thing I want...is to hurt anyone."

Shizune walked over to Ino, in her hands she had many of the flowers. It wasn't until she was standing right in front of the girl, that Shizune stopped walking, and simply smiled. "Ino-chan, as scary as it may seem...you can't pick both. In the end, it will only hurt both. Please be honest with yourself."

"You're really smart, Shizune-senpai," Ino told her, causing the girl to blush slightly from her bashfulness.

"More importantly, we can send these samples, to Lady Hokage. So let's go back to my room," Shizune instructed.

Luckily everyone was able to find Shizune's room without any trouble. While seated in a circle upon the floor, Shizune decided that this was perfect opportunity to discuss their actual mission.

"As we know, four girls were raped, however we don't know why," Shizune voiced.

Tenten rose her hand before answering, "What if it's because they wanted to? Horny guys and all."

Shizune shook her head. "Why now? It was only recent, and the victims were only Konoichi. Not a single, civilian woman was targeted."

"Hinata-chan, what happened when you were gone?" Sakura suddenly asked. Hinata tried to think back, however soon sadly sighed. "I...I can't remember," she confessed.

"Think hard," Shizune urged. "Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"

Hinata shook her head.

Tenten suddenly shook Ino's shoulder, causing the blonde to glance over. "Ino, maybe you can use your jutsu to jump in her head and pick through her memories!" Tenten suggested.

"It...doesn't work like that," Ino sighed. "Although I'm sure that's something my dad could do. He's usually used for interrogation missions like that."

"I guess the only thing we can do is get some sleep," Shizune sighed. "If you remember anything, Hinata, please let me know, and everyone be careful about going to that bath. If the hot spring is connected to the rapes, putting ourselves under that genjutsu may be dangerous."

So the girls offered their good-byes, then moved back to their bedroom. It was as they were climbing onto their mats that Hinata suddenly remembered something from the hallway earlier. "There was a voice calling out my name," Hinata spoke up, causing the three other girls to glance over at her. "Earlier, when we were separated. I wish I could remember more."

"It's fine, Hinata-chan," Sakura yawned. "I'm sure you'll remember in the morning."

Tenten watched silently as Hinata fell asleep. She hadn't realized...that she had allowed such a sad expression to slip onto her face. She couldn't take her eyes off of her.

"I think one of us should stay watch," Ino suggested. "And take shifts."

"That's a good idea," Sakura agreed and glanced over towards the door. "I don't fully trust the Inn-Keeper." Her gaze trailed over to Hinata, glad that she was already asleep. The fact alone that something had happened to Hinata, and she had no memory of it, was a good indication that she was traumatized. She didn't need the burden of staying up all night, placed upon her. Apparently Ino and Tenten were thinking the same thing as she had, as they all looked away from Hinata at the same time.

"Who will go first?" Ino asked.

Sakura parted her lips to volunteer, however Tenten beat her to the punch. "I will. Staying up, isn't hard at all," she told them with a smile. "You guys should rest. When I'm too tired, then I'll wake up one of you up."

"Alright," Sakura agreed with a nod, but then smiled warmly towards the girl, "Thanks, Tenten. I'm really glad you were able to come on this mission with us."

"Me too," Tenten answered, however there was a glint of sadness present in her smile. Sakura wasn't sure if she should make mention of it or not. Instead she said, "Well, I have to use to the bathroom. I think I saw one down the hall."

"But is it safe to go alone?" Tenten immediately asked.

"Don't worry, Tenten, I'll keep Sakura company," Ino told her with a friendly smile, and stood to her feet. Then the two girls left, leaving Tenten to look over Hinata. The weapons specialist took a deep breath as she sat there, trying to think of something to pass time. The silence was eerie, so she started lightly humming a little lullaby that her grandmother had taught her a long time ago. Her eyes continued to glance over at Hinata.

As she hummed the melody, she carefully over beside Hinata. Tenten stopped singing and stared down at her. Gently she moved her fingers to brush her bangs from her face and leaned down and planted a kiss upon her lips.

"Hinata-chan," Tenten whispered. "I wish you could learn to see...that there are other people who exist...than the people you're in love with." Tenten smiled that same sad smile from before. "I had heard from Neji...that you liked Naruto...I guess you're starting to like Ino now..." As she spoke her voice felt incredibly soft, she wasn't sure why she was still speaking, but she continued. "I don't know what I feel for you...but...I can't get that moment...out of my head. I don't have blonde hair...but I wish that you would acknowledge me...just...see the rest of the world...and not trap yourself...so you can only see through a tunnel...I think I like you, Hinata-chan."

* * *

**OoC: **Hey Guys, I'm going to be working hard to finish up this story by next week! I have some other projects coming up. I have a book I'm publishing~, so if you guys are a fan, then support! More info about will come about that soon. ^.^ Remember, review. Love you guys


	7. My Stomach Drops

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Seven

My Stomach Drops

* * *

Sakura glanced over at Ino as they walked to the bathroom in silence. She debated on whether or not she should say something, however quickly looked ahead when she noticed Ino glance over in her direction. She was embarrassed, and her face felt incredibly hot. And yet, she felt too bashful to say anything. All she wanted was to break the silence, it wasn't until they arrived at the bathroom that Ino said, "Ah, look. Here it is."

"Yeah," Sakura answered, "Uh thanks. I'm sure I would have found it on my own."

"I dunno, Sakura," Ino began with a smirk. "You probably would have distracted yourself~."

"Distracted myself?!" Sakura snapped, "I'll have you know, I have a very long attention sp-"

"Don't you have to use the bathroom?" Ino asked.

"Oh...yeah, I do," Sakura answered. She couldn't help but wonder why Ino was suddenly acting like this. _'Unless I'm imagining it,'_ she soon concluded. She pushed open the door and walked in. "I'll only be a minute," she told Ino before closing the door behind her.

So Ino waited and found herself glancing down both ends of the hall. Of course she found herself thinking back to her conversation with Shizune. She couldn't pick both...and yet she felt that if she couldn't pick one either. What made it worse was that she knew who she wanted. Suddenly she caught whiff of the scent of strawberries. Immediately her guard went up. "Sakura, are you almost done?" she whispered, however she didn't receive any sort of response. The smell was getting stronger, almost as if the source was approaching. Not wanting to be in the hallway any longer, Ino forced her way into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. That's when she saw that Sakura was washing her hands. Sakura stared at her for a moment, unable to find her words.

"You were taking too long," Ino explained.

"What if I wasn't done?" Sakura protested.

"I wouldn't care," Ino told her.

Sakura stopped herself from arguing when she noticed that the other girl seemed nervous about something. Then that's when everything made sense to her. Sakura didn't consider herself the most womanly girl girl around, but that didn't stop her from changing up stance so that she was holding her head up and her chest puffed out. "Why did you really come in?" she asked, although Ino's attention was mostly on the door.

"Ino, you know...a lot has happened today," Sakura began, causing the girl to glance back towards her. Sakura hesitantly placed a hand upon her arm, before hugging it close to her chest. "That thing that happened in your bedroom...before Hinata went over to your house...and even the thing in the bath...it just..." Sakura cut herself short, not knowing how to continue without sounding strange. After all, she and Ino were friends. But could they be labeled as only friends if they've shared a kiss? Sakura never had a boyfriend before, and certainly not a girlfriend. The only experience she ever had with love...was whatever she read out of a book.

There was no way she could make sense out of how nervous she felt. Then that's when she remembered that moment between her and Hinata on the steps, and the things that the ravenette said to her. Hinata called her selfish, and made her sound like a whore for having admirers. She never found out why Hinata was going over to Ino's house, or why Hinata had tried to share a room with Ino or why she said the blonde's name when Tenten had touched her. Then it all made sense to her.

Sakura slowly released Ino's arm and took a step back, and stared at the girl. Disbelief and heartache was written all over her face. She took a deep breath and calmly asked, "What were you and Hinata doing together?"

"Sakura, can we talk about this later?" Ino asked.

"Ino, just tell me," Sakura demanded, however stopped when Ino grabbed onto her arm and whispered, "Sakura, there's something severely wrong with this resort. You remember that Genjutsu? I'm not even sure if we're out of it."

"Of course we're out of it," Sakura told her as she knocked her arm away from the girl. "It released us sometime before we got out of the tub. Remember, we talked about it? And then later we went and found Shizune trapped in the genjutsu as well- you're changing the subject!"

"Sakura listen to me!"

"Are you going to answer me?!"

"About what?"

"About my question!" Sakura snapped.

"Use chakra," Ino told her, causing Sakura to look bewildered.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked.

"Just do it!"

So Sakura tried focusing her charka into her hands, however realized that she couldn't feel anything. It was almost as if she weren't a shinobi at all...but normal. After trying multiple times to gather her charka, she finally glanced over at Ino, unsure of how she noticed.

"How about we finish our mission first and then figure out what's going on between us," Ino told her before opening the bathroom door. To her surprise, she saw Yasu. Ino squeaked, unable to find her words. Yasu took that as a moment to start the conversation. "You know, it's late, both of you should get to bed," she told them with her same tiny smile.

"I have trouble sleeping at night," Sakura lied.

"I have a remedy for that," Yasu said, "It's a strawberry tea that's been passed down generation from generation."

"I'll...pass," Sakura nervously laughed, although that's when Ino suddenly asked, "Who else works here? We've met you, but I haven't seen any of your staff...but to keep a place so big like this running, you have to have help of some kind, right?"

Sakura knew that Ino was smart, but she never knew that she was _this_ smart. She was actually interrogating the inn keeper. Sakura found herself watching Ino as she intensely stared at Yasu. "You want to meet the rest of my staff?" Yasu asked. She had an eerie sort of smile. The kind that made Sakura's skin crawl and her heart beat at an irregular pace.

Then that's when Yasu took a step back and started doing a series of quickened handsigns. Ino tried memorizing them, however found herself entranced by the woman's hand movements. Then the blonde felt her body grow heavy and she collapsed. Sakura was quick to catch her, although stumbled down to the floor from Ino's weight. Swiftly she glared over at Yasu and asked, "What did you do to her?"

"I'm surprised that you're not unconscious as well," the dark haired woman commented. "You weren't trying to figure out what hand sign I was about to do?"

"I had other things on my mind," Sakura voiced with a smug grin. "From the looks of it, that hand sign was a distraction, wasn't it? You don't have anyone who works with you!"

"And that's where you're wrong," Yasu told her as a ghostly wail sounded down the hall. "My ancestors live here with me...and they're fairly unhappy with being among the dead. After all, there are a lot of things they miss doing. Things that you can only do alive~"

"Nothing here is real, it's only a genjutsu. So I have nothing to be afraid of," Sakura argued as she continued to protectively hug onto Ino. Although that's when she realized that if they were in a genjutsu...was it possible for Ino to be unconscious? Unless she was the only one actually in the genjutsu...or it wasn't a genjutsu at all. "This isn't a genjutsu, is it?" Sakura concluded.

"Smart girl," Yasu told her. "As I've told you, this is a jutsu passed down from my family. The moment you entered that bath, you openly transported yourself into a world that I control. A world of limbo, sandwiched between that of the living and the dead."

Sakura looked horrified, which only fueled Yasu's amusement. "What I want is to stretch this jutsu far beyond this resort, but to do this, I need the right sacrifice."

"Keep your hands off of her!" Sakura snapped, causing Yasu to lightly laugh.

"Ah, my dear, why do you assume that we would want her?" Yasu asked. "There's a certain condition that my sacrifice has to have. A certain emotion that we're sure at least one of your girls will qualify for~."

"Sakura-chan," Ino whispered before a seductive giggle broke from her lips. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the pink haired girl with such a lustful look in her eyes. "My what pretty lips you have," she cooed before planting a kiss on Sakura's neck. She was embarrassed and yet at the same time, incredibly angry.

"What did you do to Ino?!" Sakura demanded to know.

"What, I thought you would be happy," Yasu chuckled. "Like I said, there are only certain girls who qualify. One certain ones that meet all of the conditions, and of all of the girls, you qualify the most, _Sakura_."

"Why is that?" she asked, however Yasu didn't answer. Instead the woman vanished before her eyes. Sakura's attention was snatched away by Ino nipping her ear. Her skin felt hot as the girl continued to trail kisses upon her skin.

"Ino, something is controlling you," Sakura whispered urgently however Ino didn't stop. She continued to kiss her and then beyond Sakura's control, Ino suddenly pushed her down to the ground. Sakura's eyes widened as the other girl climbed on top of her. Why wasn't she fighting this? Sure she had thought about it. She had thought about being with Ino, but not like this. However when the girl palmed her breast, all of her thoughts disappeared. She writhed a bit on the floor, holding back the moan that wished to break through her lips. Ino's continued to kiss her neck. Sakura hadn't even realized that Ino's knee was in between her legs, until she felt it rub her. The longer it continued, the hotter Sakura's body felt.

This wasn't Ino. This wasn't the same as being with Ino!

"Do you want more?" Ino whispered against her neck.

Sakura parted her lips, but words weren't able to form.

Ino's hand slid up inside of her robe, tickling against her already damp underwear. Sakura's heart continued to beat loudly in her chest, until it was all that she could hear. Her vision was beginning to blur as felt Ino's fingertips slide inside of her panties and tease her sensitive little bead.

"More?" Ino cooed.

_'This isn't Ino,'_ Sakura continued to remind herself, however she wasn't able to stop her moans.

"Can I enter you?" Ino asked.

_'I have to stop this.' _However Sakura had no control...she couldn't move. She couldn't speak.

"Beg~," Ino instructed as her fingers suddenly stopped. There was a sadistic grin placed on Ino's lips. Sakura couldn't break her gaze from it. "Beg for it my little Sakura blossom...my little _strawberry_."

"You're not...Ino," Sakura whispered.

"What? What are you talking about?" Ino laughed as she kept her fingers placed against the skin of Sakura's most important prize. A finger entered causing a breathy moan to leave Sakura's lips, however she repeated, "You're not Ino."

"Of course I am, Sakura. With such a large forehead you'd think you'd have some brains in there," the blonde laughed as she continued to rock her fingers into the other girl.

"You're close," Sakura gasped.

"To your spot?" Ino asked.

Sakura grinned, but instead of answering the question she whispered, "But not close enough."

She used one of her hands to push her up, even though it caused Ino's fingers to dive in deeper. Fighting against the pleasure that ran through her entire body, Sakura delivered one of her famous punches at the girl, causing her to fly back.

"You weren't worried about hurting your friend," she heard Yasu's voice echo through-out the entire hall. "You had to know that was Ino's body."

Sakura didn't answer as she hesitantly moved to where the blonde laid upon the ground. She wasn't moving.

"And yet you freely hit her," Yasu continued. "Why is that?"

Sakura didn't answer as she started quickly patting the side of Ino's face, trying to wake her up. She didn't realize how hard she hit the girl. After all, Sakura had punched Naruto several times and never once knocked him unconscious. "Wake up," she whispered.

"It's a side-effect," Yasu's voice explained, "That if injured by the jutsu...she would fall into a deep sleep, and if she never wakes up...well, I suppose there's no need to explain the rest."

She heard a footstep behind her, and swiftly turned around to see Yasu standing there, with that same simple smile placed upon her lips. Sakura glared towards the woman with pure hatred. "I'm going to fucking kill you,"

"Oh my, what angry eyes you have," Yasu chuckled as she knelt down to Sakura's level and took her chin into her hand. Then softly the woman whispered, "If you did that, then you'll never find out how to help her."

"What's the catch?" Sakura growled.

"No catch," Yasu told her, however suddenly paused as though she suddenly remembered something. "Then again, I suppose I could use your help. With my _jutsu_. To be nice, I'll even guarantee that Ino will love you forever and ever."

"Get. The _FUCK_. Away from me," Sakura snapped as she shoved the frail woman back.

Yasu started laughing with pure amusement as she pushed herself up to her feet. "What a feisty girl you are," she cooed, "Well, if you don't want to help me with my jutsu, there is someone else who will."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura interrogated.

"Ino won't awaken from her dream, until my _jutsu_ is complete," Yasu giggled as she disappeared into thin air. Sakura looked over towards Ino who hadn't moved at all during the altercation. Sakura slowly took hold of Ino's hand and took a shallow breath as she tried to cope with the overwhelming amount of guilt she was feeling. There was a sickness right in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered. "I didn't know how else to snap you out of it."

Tears poured out of her eyes, and she clutched the blonde's hand even tighter. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so...so sorry. I guess I'm always screwing up your life...aren't I?" she thought back to how angry and annoyed Ino had seemed lately. She thought back to that moment in the medical room, then the bathroom of the Hokage's building. She thought back to that moment between her and Hinata, at Ino's house. She remembered how it wasn't the first time she saw Hinata leaving the blonde's home. She thought back to what Hinata said about the hot bath or even that she had wished to share a room with Ino.

"You...don't like me do," Sakura said as she let go of the other girl's hand.

"We're floating...high above the clouds," Ino whispered in her sleep. Slowly she opened her eyes. "And I'm sure they taste like cotton candy."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat and a joyful smile immediately moved into place. Ino sat up and Sakura swiftly hugged her, however the girl didn't hug her back. Ino instead continued to stare ahead as she said lightly, "If we're not careful, then we'll fall right through the clouds, down, down, down."

"Ino?" Sakura hesitantly asked as she slowly released the girl.

Ino looked over at her and smiled at her with a rather dreamily expression. "What a pretty little bunny you are, how did you get up here in the sky with me?"

Sakura couldn't find her words. She couldn't take her eyes off of Ino. What kind of jutsu...was this?

"That's okay little bunny," Ino told her before wrapping her arms loving around the girl. "You probably don't even know how to talk. I'll teach you. Someone once told me that I'm good at teaching things."

Sakura wasn't sure how she was supposed to explain Ino's behavior to everyone else. Ino urged her to stand, so she did. Then the blonde moved a head of her, but soon glanced back at a very puzzled Sakura. "Little Bunny, are you coming? We have to a mission. As ninjas we're supposed to find the best tasting strawberries to offer to the princess. Do you know who the princess is?"

Sakura slowly shook her head, causing Ino to heavily sigh. "Well that's not good," she told the pink haired girl. "The princess is in disguise, but I'm sure we'll know her once we see her. Right?"

Strawberries...Yasu was using Ino as a tool to complete the jutsu. So who...was the princess that they were looking for? More importantly...what would happen to Ino if the jutsu is finally completed?

* * *

**OoC:** Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update this chapter. Life has been craaaaazy. In the process of publishing a book! Exciting right? Anywho, leave a review! It pushes me to update faster, and lets me know that you like what you're reading! Only a few more chapters till the conclusion! BaiBai~


	8. My Heart Breaks

Medical Strawberries  
Chapter Eight

My Heart Breaks

* * *

Hinata saw herself standing naked in a field full of flowers. The sky was pure white. Hinata glanced around but couldn't make sense of anything she saw. One thing was apparent. She was alone. "Um...hello?" she spoke up, however her voice was terribly soft as it always was. "Ino-chan? Sakura-san? Tenten-san? Shizune-senpai?" She couldn't spot any of the other women. She wasn't sure if she needed to see them. She was nervous about them seeing her body like this.

Quickly Hinata glanced around trying to spot any trace of her clothing. She slowly crouched down, however paused when she felt the stocks of the flowers tickling her body. Her face turned red, but she continued to search.

"Hinata," she heard Sakura say. Slowly she looked up and she saw the pink haired girl looking smugly down at her. Hinata shielded her breasts, unsure of why she was naked in the first place. "Hinata," Sakura repeated, causing the dark haired girl to look back up at her. "Do you want Ino-chan?"

"Um...want...? What do you mean?" Hinata nervously stammered, unsure of why her newfound confidence had left her. Maybe it was because Ino wasn't around?

"You know good and well what I mean," Sakura sneered as she cocked her head to the side. "Do you fucking want her!"

Hinata flinched, which caused Sakura to laugh. The pink haired girl knelt down beside her and whispered in her ear. "I guess this means you're my rival." Rival...once again, Sakura was her rival. First it was for Naruto and now it was for Ino. Hinata felt that no matter who she moved on to, Sakura would always be there to one-up her. "And there's only one way you can really beat me," Sakura chuckled as she suddenly dove her hand between Hinata's legs. A squeak broke from the dark haired girl's lips.

"Sakura-chan stop!" she gasped, however Sakura continued.

"If you want Ino so fucking much, then you'll have to use the jutsu on me," she chuckled. "Shove those fucking strawberries down my throat and use the jutsu."

Hinata's eyes slowly opened and glanced around at the dark bedroom that she and the rest of the girls were sharing. She sat up and noticed that Ino and Sakura were no where to be seen and Tenten was sleeping sitting up. Her gaze returned to Ino's mat. Her thoughts drifted back to her dream and the things that Sakura said to her. She truly was her rival...wasn't she? Slowly the pushed herself up to her feet and walked out of the room. It wasn't until she was in the hallway that she felt dizzy. The room was spinning, but she continued on her way. She needed to find Ino. She wanted to win the girl without relying on the method that Sakura told her.

"Hi-na-ta," she heard Ino say inside of one of the rooms. Her heart skipped a beat, so she quickly pushed the door open and saw Yasu sitting at a small table with an insense lit. "Hello, Hinata," Yasu greeted.

"Um...I'm...I'm looking for my friend," Hinata tried to explain.

Yasu gestured for the girl to sit.

"I...I should be going," Hinata stammered.

"You feel uncertain about your love life," Yasu told her, causing Hinata to freeze. "You have unfulfilled wishes. A voice no one bothers to hear and friends who will never understand you."

"That isn't true," Hinata argued, "Shino-kun and Kiba-kun _are _my friends!"

"Or are they only your teammates?" Yasu questioned, causing the girl to fall silent. "I can answer all of your questions," the older woman explained as she gestured to spot in front of her. So Hinata slowly took a seat, her hands retreated to in front of her. Nervously she fiddled with her fingers, unable to give the woman any kind of eye contact.

"Are you ready for your fortune?" Yasu asked slipped out her crystal ball from the sleeve of her kimono. The ball was placed upon the small table and Hinata tried looking into it, however she didn't see anything fascinating. There was a black pool of nothingness. "I see a troubled heart," Yasu spoke up, snatching Hinata from her gaze. "There's a boy that you admire."

"He's very confident," Hinata said softly. "No matter how tough a situation looks...he never gives up. He's...really cool."

"Is he a friend of yours? A love?" Yasu asked.

Hinata stared down at her hands. "We...rarely talk to each other. I never had the courage, but every now and then we'll cross paths, and he'll say hello, as he does to everyone. Even then, I still admire him...I want to be outgoing as he is..."

"And the other?" Yasu cooed, "The girl?"

Hinata blushed even more. "Oh...Ino-san," she whispered, before looking at the inn keeper. "She's...she's beautiful. She's confident and experienced and smart and brave and-" Hinata cut herself short when she realized that she was rambling. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"What if I told you that your destinies are linked?" Yasu chuckled.

"Really?!" Hinata immediately asked.

Yasu nodded, and peered once more into her crystal ball, however suddenly she looked very concerned...which caused Hinata to look concerned as well.

"What's wrong?" Hinata softly asked.

"It seems that there's someone who wishes to complicate your life," Yasu told her with a light sigh. "This girl believes that she's better than you?"

Hinata was quiet.

"And her existence is valued more than hers," Yasu continued. "She doesn't respect your feelings."

"It's not fair," Hinata mumbled. "It's never fair."

"You try very hard to make everyone notice you...and yet it backfires, doesn't it?"

"I hate her," Hinata snapped, however soon realized what she said. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have to apologize," Yasu said, "It was what you thinking. Why do you have to hide it?"

"Sakura-san has done nothing to me," Hinata mumbled.

"You don't believe that, do you?" Yasu asked, causing Hinata to offer her full eye contact. Yasu looked back down at her crystal ball. "I see romance in your near future. I see you walking down the street with your pinky entwined with another. I see you share kisses and lunches-"

"Tell me what to do!" Hinata interrupted. "I'm..I'm sorry...but I- I want all of that. What...what should I do to make all of that come true?"

Yasu sat in silence, causing Hinata to feel even more anxious.

"Please, please tell me," she begged. "I want to feel...I want to be someone's most important person. I want to be the thought that enters someone mind when they first wake up...and right before they go to sleep. I...I want to be loved...I...please...how do I make that future come true?"

A smirk tugged onto Yasu's lips as she watched how desperate the other girl appeared. Then again, she was shy and often let her fears and insecurities control her life. It was nice to see a crack in her usual composure. "Outstretch your hand," Yasu instructed. So Hinata hesitantly held out her hand, although she wasn't sure what was to happen next. "Reach into the ball and take the first item you feel."

Hinata stared at the ball, unsure of how it was supposed to work. Slowly her fingers moved towards the glass. Then suddenly her fingers passed through, as if she were reaching into water. Her finger tips brushed against something, so she grabbed onto it, and pulled it out. When she opened her hand, she saw a necklace with a strawberry pendent attached to the center of it. It was lined with diamonds and other sparkling gems. Hinata was mesmerized by its beauty.

"Open the top," Yasu instructed. So Hinata carefully pulled off the top cover of the strawberry, and there she saw a needle. "Prick your finger and place the top back on once again." Hinata bit her bottom lip, unsure if she should follow through or not. When Yasu noticed this, she said, "This is the only way to guarantee your happy ending."

So she did, and placed the cap back on the strawberry.

"Put on the necklace," Yasu told her, so Hinata slowly did. She was extremely nervous. She knew that everyone was concerned about the genjutsu from before, but Yasu...was trying to help her. Yes she gave off a creepy vibe when they first met her, but Hinata felt as though they possibly misjudged the woman. It was only her misfortune that her former customers were murdered. If anything, Hinata felt as if she were in debt to Yasu for her hospitality.

"Do...I need to pay anything?" Hinata shyly asked.

Yasu tugged out a scroll from inside of her kimono and set it down on the table. "All I need for you is to sign it with your blood," she told the girl. Hinata held out her finger to do so, however stopped and looked back at the adult. "What will happen?" Hinata asked.

"We'll be able to activate my family's jutsu that will alter the probability of events," Yasu explained. "Because it's your blood, good fortune will come your way, and your deepest wish will be answered."

"But I thought the bath...was supposed to grant my wish...," Hinata said.

"That was a partial illusion, while this jutsu is the real. How else do you think I was able to have this building?" Yasu explained, "But if you don't want to, then that's fine. You could always try to forge your future on your own."

Without anymore hesitation, Hinata signed the scroll with her blood, then placed her hand down on the seal. Even though she couldn't summon together any of her charka before, Hinata felt her chakra flow down into the scroll. It illuminated all of the kanji and symbols until a light shot up from the paper and engulfed the room.

"Bunny-chan, did you feel that?" Ino suddenly asked Sakura as they walked down the hallway. "Something very exciting is about to happen." Sakura looked over at Ino with great concern. If something were about to happen, then she wasn't sure she would be able to handle it with the girl in this kind of condition.

"Let's find Tenten and Hinata," Sakura said with a warm, but forced smile. Then she took hold of Ino's hand and led her back to their bedroom. When they entered, Sakura was shocked to see that Hinata was gone and Tenten was sleeping. Swiftly Sakura let go of Ino's hand and moved over to the brunette and shook her.

"Tenten," she urged as she tried to wake her up.

"Huh...? What...?" Tenten mumbled, unsure of what was going on. "Sakura...?" she questioned when she saw the pink haired girl sitting directly in front of her.

"You fell asleep," Sakura stated. "Hinata's gone and you fell asleep!"

"Hinata's gone?!" Tenten exclaimed as she swiftly looked towards the girl's bed, and sure enough Hinata was no where to be seen.

"How long ago did you fall asleep?" Sakura asked.

"How should I know?!" Tenten snapped, before grabbed her head trying to think back. "I...I don't think it was too long ago."

"Ah, look a bear!" Ino exclaimed as she moved behind Tenten and grabbed her hairbuns. "Panda-chan, are you looking for the princess to?"

Tenten gave Sakura an odd look, which the pink haired girl only heavily sighed towards. "Ino's trapped in a weird genjutsu," she explained. "She thinks she's looking for a princess."

"We have to find the princess, after all, she's the chosen one who can free us all," Ino explained with a cheerful smile. "Will you help us, Panda-chan?"

Tenten wasn't sure if she understood, but nodded anyways. Then she looked back at Sakura and asked, "Do you think we should wake Shizune-senpai? Especially since Hinata's gone again?"

"If Shizune-senpai finds out, then we probably won't be sent on anymore missions," Sakura informed her, but Tenten didn't like that answer. "But what about Hinata?!"

"We'll find her on our own," Sakura stated as she stood to her feet. "For all we know, she may be Ino's princess..." That statement left a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Besides, we're running out of time."

Tenten hopped up to her feet and looked towards the two other girls, before pumping her fist in the air. "Ready!" Ino, thinking that Tenten was absolutely adorable, followed suit, "Ready!" With a sigh Sakura placed her fist in the air as well, "Ready!"

They rushed into the dark hallway, and Sakura glanced over towards Ino, then Tenten, figuring that it was up to her to take charge of the situation. "Alright, here's the plan. When we're in the halls, we'll stick together, however we'll momentarily brach off just to inspect each room. That way we're checking three rooms at a time, rather than one. Understood?"

"Right!" Tenten agreed.

"Be careful not to fall through the clouds though," Ino reminded, causing Sakura to have a sweat-drop.

Tenten leaned in close to the pink haired girl and whispered with a light laugh, "Is it bad that I like her more like this than the other way?" This statement caused Sakura to sweat-drop even more.

"But then again, why can't Ino break free again?" Tenten couldn't help but ask, which caused Sakura to frown even more. "It seems that there's a weird jutsu over this entire building, canceling out our chakra and jutsus. I think it must be caused by a device of some sort. If we find and break it, then we can free Ino."

"Right, right," Tenten agreed. "What do you think it looks like...?"

"I...don't know," Sakura confessed. "Let's just assume that it could be anything and anywhere."

"Right, right," Tenten agreed once more, but Sakura's confidence was fleeting. "Hey...Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should get Shizune-senpai," Tenten admitted.

* * *

**OoC: **I'm surprised I was able to update so quickly lol. I'm balancing a couple of shows, while writing a stage play and working on getting my book published. 2013 is about taking that leap! Whoo! Anywho, yuriness! I'm debating on what sort of stories I'm going to write next. I definitely think I'll do more Naruto, but I might also write one for Sailor Moon~. I'm also a fan of Lyrical Nanoha.

So here's the question, what are your favorite animes? :) Who knows, maybe I'm a fan of them as well, and i can write something up on my next project~. Remember, Review! && Baibai


	9. My Body Turns to Stone

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Nine

My Body Turns to Stone

* * *

Sakura, Tenten and Ino stood in front of Shizune as the adult tried to take in all that they told them. This situation had become a very complicated one. The fact that Hinata was no where to be found made her even more nervous.

"This isn't good," Shizune finally said after a moment, causing Tenten and Sakura to grimace. "As the Hokage informed us, whatever raped and killed those girls is on the loose, and we have reason to believe that this resort is somehow connected. If we don't find Hinata, then the same might happen to her."

"We'll do everything we can," Sakura told her with a nod.

"Failure is not an option," Tenten agreed.

Ino only giggled, which caused Shizune to glance over in her direction.

"Can you fix her?" Tenten suddenly asked, which caused the older woman to frown.

"I can try to dispel it, but beyond that...Ino was our genjutsu expert," she sighed.

Ino watched as Shizune tried to dispel the genjutsu but to no avail. The blonde smiled happily as she watched Shizune, who to her, looked like a cat. What she couldn't understand was why all of the animals looked so unhappy. "We're looking for the princess right?" Ino suddenly asked causing them all to look at her. The pink bunny moved to her and nodded before taking her hand.

"Of course, that's the mission," the rabbit instructed, causing Ino to smile happily.

"I'm glad," she told them. "Once we solve the mission we'll get the prize."

"And...what exactly is the prize?" The rabbit hesitantly asked.

"A wish," Ino explained with a shrug, before giggling, "I'm not sure what I'll wish for. Maybe fame, fortune or admirers who will show me what real pleasure is."

The panda looked embarrassed as the rabbit stared at her blankly, before muttering, "You really are Ino, aren't you."

"Everyone move out!" the cat instructed.

Ino moved over to the door with the animals, but the moment the door was open, she gasped towards the sight. There was a beautiful meadow filled with flowers. Some of the flowers formed together to make doorways. The clouds were shaped as hearts and were as red as strawberries. She couldn't take her eyes off of them. She noticed the bunny, panda and cat move to some of the flower formed gateways, but before Ino could move to one of her own, she suddenly heard music. It was light and beautiful, almost like a lullaby, and she couldn't ignore it. The music was laced with very light singing and Ino suddenly felt at peace.

She took a step toward it, but stopped when she heard the bunny call out, "Ino!"

Ino stopped and looked at the bunny, who was frowning greatly. A grin crept onto the blonde's lips as she suddenly grabbed the bunny by its cheeks and forced it to smile. "You're a lot cuter with a smile, Bunny-chan," she began, but found herself distracted by the music once again. "Do you hear that?" Ino suddenly asked, gaining the attention of the other animals.

"Hear what?" the Bunny asked.

"I...nothing, it's nothing," Ino answered, however she couldn't understand why the animals didn't hear the beautiful music. She thought that they would have been more sensitive to the sound than she was. The more she thought about it, the sillier it was that they couldn't hear it. "Panda-chan, surely you hear it, right?"

The Panda awkwardly chuckled before answering, "What exactly am I listening for, Ino-chan?"

"Someone's singing!" she tried to explain, however her excitement was getting the best of her. "It's so beautiful. I bet it's the princess! She's calling out to me! I have to find her!" Ino started to dash off, however was suddenly tackled by the Bunny. Ino wasn't hurt, but more so confused. Slowly she glanced up and said, "Bunny-chan, you're on my body."

Immediately the rabbit blushed and hurried off, before clearing her throat. "We don't know if that's the princess or not, for all you know this may be trap."

"Or," the Kitty began, "It's the genjutsu trying to lead Ino away."

Genjutsu...this wasn't the first time they've said this.

"Why...do you keep using that word? Genjutsu?" Ino hesitantly asked with a light laugh.

The animals stared at her in disbelief.

"Hey...searching like this will take forever," Panda complained, causing Ino's face to light up.

"I agree!" she suddenly exclaimed before grabbing onto the Kitty by her arm and hugging it close to her chest. "Can we please split up? We can even go in teams of two." What she hadn't realized was that the Kitty was looking severely embarrassed, while jealousy was written all over the Bunny.

"That...that should be fine," the Kitty managed to say, even though her face was very red. "I guess the teams should be-"

"I'll go with Bunny-chan," Ino volunteered and darted over to the pink rabbit, grabbing onto her hand and pulling her in the opposite part of the field. The sky was so beautiful, although she couldn't exactly understand why there were red clouds. She couldn't understand why she wasn't nervous.

"Ino," The Bunny spoke up, causing her to slow down. "Do you really not know what a genjutsu is?"

"Of course I do," Ino told her with a laugh, causing the Bunny to sigh in relief. "It's a type of dessert!"

The Bunny frowned as she whispered, "What did they do to you?"

Seeing the rabbit so sad like this broke Ino's heart, so she suddenly hugged her. She hugged the Bunny as tightly as she could. "Don't be sad. I'm okay. We just have to find the princess and the mission will be completed," she tried to explain. "I was sent here to find the princess for you, and then I can return to my friends."

"So...you remember your friends?" the Bunny shyly asked.

"I couldn't forget my friends," Ino told her with a smile, before moving back from the hug, and glanced off towards the direction the music was coming from. "We should be moving," she suggested. The Bunny nodded, and the two continued through the field of flowers. Suddenly they came to a very big hill. Without any warning, Ino shoved the rabbit down the hill, causing the pink Bunny's eyes to grow very big. A short yell broke from her lips as her body bounced down the hill. Ino soon tumbled after her and noticed why the Bunny was in so much pain. The hill was covered in rocks!

When they reached the bottom the Bunny was rubbing her neck. With a whimper she said, "You could have broke my neck just now!"

"I remembered rolling down hills when I was little," Ino winced, "I just don't remember there being so many rocks."

"Do you still hear the singing?" The Bunny asked.

So Ino listened. She heard the whistle of the wind, the light chirping of the birds, but she couldn't hear the music. She stood to her feet and continued to listen. Softly she heard it. The melody that caused her heart to flutter. "We're close," Ino explained as she held out a hand to help up the Bunny. "But first we need to find the strawberries for her."

"You don't want to just find the princess?" the Bunny asked.

Ino shook her head. "You can't approach royalty without an offering of some sort. You should know this. She's _your_ princess."

The Bunny stood there for a moment as she were debating something.

"Are you against the princess?" Ino asked as she took a step back. "You were a rogue spy this entire time!"

"No!" the Bunny shouted, "It's not like that at all!"

"Then why are you so against finding the princess?!" Ino snapped.

"I'm not! I'm not," The Bunny cried. "I just don't like seeing you like this! You're smarter than this! I don't know what they did to you!"

"They didn't do anything," Ino told her before stepping up towards the Bunny. "It was _your_ princess who was kidnapped and I was summoned here to help you. I know you're supposed to be gentle with animals so I was trying to be happier about everything."

"So you're faking this?" The Bunny hesitantly asked.

"Faking? No, I'm not. Everything is...no, ah." Ino grabbed her head feeling frustrated, however the Bunny continued to stare at her.

"Genjutsu," the Bunny said, causing Ino to hold her head even tighter. "Genjutsu, genjutsu, genjutsu!" The Bunny continued to chant this over and over until Ino suddenly slapped her, causing her to stumble back. The pink rabbit grabbed her face, unsure of how to react. "Stop it!" Ino shouted. The Bunny continued to stare. "Ino...you...I..." the animal stammered, however the blonde wasn't listening. Ino took a few steps back and stated very seriously, "I'm going to find those strawberries and rescue the princess on my _own_."

"Ino, you should be able to block it out," The Bunny tried to explain, "With your sensory skill you should be able to detect it! Doesn't something feel wrong about all of this! Wake up!"

Ino took another step back, causing the Bunny to look down at the ground. She clinched her little paws and growled, "I'm going to avenge you. I'll make them sorry they ever did this to you."

"You're...a very aggressive rabbit," Ino awkwardly chuckled, however she was now feeling bad about slapping the other. Her thoughts were immediately snatched away when she heard the music. This time it was all around them. Even the Bunny heard it, and her eyes widened out of pure surprise.

"That music," The Bunny whispered.

"The princess is nearby...but where...?" Ino asked as she glanced around.

Vines shot up from the ground and wrapped around the Bunny's legs, binding her arms and most of her body, before tugging her down into the ground. A short yell broke from the Bunny's mouth before she disappeared into the ground. "INO!" she screamed before the ground started piling over her head. Ino dropped down to her knees and started digging at the ground trying to find the hole that the Bunny had disappeared into. She continued to claw, even though her fingers were beginning to bleed. Her heart was rapidly beating in her chest as she couldn't understand it. The singing was gone. The music had disappeared.

"Bunny-chan, where are you?" she said in a panic, but the rabbit was no where in sight. Something told her to keep digging, until finally beneath all of the rocks she saw a little door. Her hands were badly bloodied. Her once beautiful hands that she took great pride in, like she had with everything else in her body, looked so ugly at that moment. And yet, she didn't care. She tugged open the wooden cover and saw the tunnel beneath. "I'll rescue you Bunny-chan," Ino vowed as she slowly climbed down in it.

There were strawberries all around the tunnel. Instead of seeds, they had little gems that lit up the tunnel for her. A lizard climbed near one of her hands and said, "Ino~" Her blue eyes slowly glanced over. Suddenly there were three other lizards, each calling out her name. "What about the princess, Ino?" one of the lizards asked. "Yes, the princess!" "You must find the princess!" "Ino~" "Ino~"

"My friend fell through this hole," she tried to explain, however her happy-go-lucky attitude was beginning to fade. "I'm not leaving her behind."

"She's not your friend," the lizard argued. "She's a rabbit who is trying to disrupt your mission! She doesn't want to find the princess at all!"

"No, I think she does," Ino told them, but they shook their heads.

"She was trying to imply that something was wrong with _you_ because _you_ wanted to find the princess," the lizard said, and the other agreed. "She kept saying a weird word."

"A nonsensical word," another lizard added.

"Genjutsu," Ino stated, causing the lizards to snicker.

"What a ridiculous word!" the lizards laughed, however Ino wasn't laughing. She dropped down to the ground, that was lined with very pretty stones. A cold draft swept through the dark tunnel. Ino kept her hands at her sides and glanced around for any sign of a doorway. She didn't see any, and bit her bottom lip feeling nervous. The lizards climbed up her legs and sat on her shoulders. "Ino, what about the strawberries? Aren't you going to gather them?"

"Not now," she told the lizards and knocked them off of her shoulders. Then she looked towards the little reptiles and said, "We _have_ to find Bunny!"

"She's a traitor," the lizards protested. "If you side with her then you're a traitor too!"

"But I'm not! I'll find your princess but this is more important!" Ino argued, although she noticed that the lizards were beginning to grow in size. Their teeth grew until they had sharpened fangs protruding from their mouths. They had claws that dug into the stone ground, and their eyes burned like fire.

"Find the princess!" they commanded.

"Alright!" Ino said, and sure enough they started to shrink back into their cuter forms. Then they suddenly scurried over to where an old basket was located. It was sitting closest the edge of the wall where a lot of strawberries were growing. "Pick them," the lizards instructed. So Ino did, however in the back of her mind she couldn't stop thinking about her little rabbit friend.

– - - - - - - - - -

Hinata stood in front of the large mirror dressed in a long elegant gown. Her hair was decorated with flowers and pearls. Her lips were painted with scarlet colored lipstick. Everything about her reminded Hinata of a Japanese princess. She never felt so beautiful. Swiftly she turned around and saw Yasu standing there with a gentle smile placed upon her lips. "Thank you," Hinata told her, although overwhelmed with the joy she was experiencing. Swiftly she wrapped her arms around the tall lanky woman.

"Ah, Hinata-chan," Yasu told her as she ran a hand down her back. "It's the least I could do. I promised to give you everlasting happiness and love, did I not? And all you have to do is keep up your end of the bargain."

"My...end?" Hinata asked, however she soon remembered the contract that she signed. "The use of my charka...?"

"Not just that my dear," Yasu told her.

"I...have to do the ritual to Sakura-san," Hinata remembered.

"Not just that my dear," Yasu repeated, however this time with a chuckle. "You must perform the jutsu that's written on that mirror."

Hinata glanced back towards the mirror, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "What...jutsu?"

"Look closer, dear," Yasu told her.

So Hinata looked back at the mirror and suddenly said, "Byakugan!" And to her surprise her jutsu worked. Then that's when she saw kanji written all over the mirror telling her exactly how to do the jutsu. It required ten different hand signs, which she was able to perform rather quickly. "Elemental Apparition no jutsu!" The mirror started glowing, causing Hinata to take a few timid steps back. Out of the mirror she saw spirits start to slip through until there were five standing in the room. They were all men, and Hinata suddenly felt nervous. She flinched, but they knelt down before her. Even Yasu bowed down.

"You really are our princess," Yasu told her, "You're even wearing the crown."

Hinata glanced back at her reflection and sure enough she was wearing a jeweled crown. Her fingers slowly reached up and gently touched the jewels. She couldn't believe how beautiful she was. Then that's when she saw that her reflection slowly lowered its hands and slid down her dress a bit to give her more cleavage.

"_We shouldn't hide our gifts,"_ her reflection told her and Hinata realized that her own hands had followed the actions of her reflection. For once she loved her breasts. She caressed them and didn't feel shy.

"May we continue on with the ritual?" Yasu asked.

"The ritual...that's right," Hinata said.

"First, command them to head to the room," Yasu told the dark haired girl.

So Hinata looked towards the ghosts, who now had a physical form. _She_ rose them from the dead. She was strong enough to do it. She was nervous, but in a strange sense proud of herself. She cleared her throat and said, "Um...please-"

"No, with more confidence, my lady," Yasu told her. "If you're going to rule, then you have to _believe_ what you're saying."

"Go to the Ritual Circle," Hinata told them, this time with more power in her voice. The moment she did that, something _clicked_ in her mind, and her tiara glowed, as the innocence in her eyes _changed_. Her subjects darted off quickly, revealing that they were once ninja. Hinata noticed this, but at that moment didn't care. All she could think about was the little voice that was whispering to her sweet temptation in the back of her mind.

"I am beautiful," Hinata told Yasu. "Thank you for letting me see that. I've been beautiful this entire time."

"Did someone tell you that you weren't?" Yasu asked.

"Girls...have told me that I was ugly...that I was fat...that my face was too round...that my hair was too short," Hinata told her, however the more she talked about it, the angrier she felt. "That I would never be in a relationship! That I was a weak ninja! That I was useless! Unnecessary!" The angrier she was the brighter that the crown glowed and the more Hinata felt this unseen force begin to take over her.

"Shall we go, my princess?" Yasu asked.

Hinata nodded and the two walked out of the room.

* * *

**OoC:** Ahhhh, it's been a while guys and I apologize! Life has been craaazzzzy! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I wanted to really do some more with the crazy world that Ino is trapped in. I loved the reviews guys! You're so sweet! I love you all! As a treat and with Valentine's Day coming up I'm going to try my hardest to release some short V-Day stories!


	10. Can you see me now

MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES

Chapter Ten

Can you see me now?

* * *

Sakura stared at the ground as her arms were strung up in the air by chains. The cold iron stung her wrists. The chains were draining her charka and she couldn't call upon her once monstrous strength. Slowly she lifted her head and looked around at the room she was in. It was a large room that resembled an ancient shrine or temple. The air felt humid, probably from the water that flowed under the spa. She tried taking a step forward, but realized that her ankles were chained to the floor. Sakura was being forced to stand with her body in an x and she was powerless to stop it. She gritted her teeth, ready to shout out for help, but reminded herself that it may be dangerous.

"Think," she whispered to herself. She had to think as hard as she could to get out of this situation, but her mind was blank. All she could think about was the current mental state that Ino was in. She didn't remember her. She had hit her and thought nothing of it. Then again, Sakura had punched Ino right in the face when she was first caught in the genjutsu. "I'm not even sure if it _is_ genjutsu," she mumbled to herself. This was something else...something stronger.

She heard the door open and quickly glanced up to see someone walking into view. When she saw Yasu she immediately jerked against her chains. "_You_," Sakura growled, but the woman only laughed.

"You know, I think we may have finally found the proper person for the ritual," Yasu voiced as she walked closer to the girl and grabbed her by her jaw. "Your hair is so pretty and pink. Is it natural?"

"Fuck you!" Sakura snapped.

"Temper, temper," Yasu voiced as her hand released the girl's face. "You know there was one other person who I had wanted to use the ritual on long ago...girls with redder hair work better."

Sakura was trying to stay calm. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Shizune and Tenten find her. "Those women...all of those women who came to this spa...what did you do to them? _How_ did you do it? There aren't any men here."

Yasu laughed, which irritated Sakura even more.

"That's where you're mistaken," Yasu cooed.

Masculine chuckles slipped into the room causing Sakura to quickly jerked her body, trying to get a better look. There were five men slowly stepping out of the shadows like hungry wolves. "They were here the entire time?" Sakura nervously asked. Yasu didn't stop laughing as the men took their positions around the girl. They didn't step toward her. Instead they moved their hands to form the sign of the ox. Yasu moved past one of those boys and stepped directly in front of Sakura. "Are you scared?" she taunted, but Sakura didn't say anything. "Aren't you going to scream for your friends?" Sakura glared at that woman.

"Shinobi do not _scream_ for help," Sakura spat causing Yasu to violently slap her. She slapped her so hard that Sakura's lip started bleeding. Even with the pain, Sakura didn't scream for help. So Yasu continued to beat her until her own hand was beginning to hurt. No matter how much pain Sakura was feeling, she didn't scream for help. Yasu started laughing toward this as she shook out her hand. "You're exactly what I need for the sacrifice and the ritual will be completed," Yasu said excitedly. "I'm getting hard just _thinking_ about it."

_'Hard...?'_ Sakura thought as she looked towards Yasu very puzzled.

"You didn't know?" Yasu asked and slowly slid open the flap of the very long kimono and there Sakura was able to see that their inn keeper was really a man. She was speechless and it hit her just how serious this entire situation was. "But of course you won't live long enough to tell everyone this. No, my dear, we're going to play with you, then use you for the gateway and finally the ritual will be completed. After all, this is the ultimate resurrection technique. Something stronger than you have ever seen before. My charka will stretch as far as your pieces are scattered."

"I never sensed your charka..." Sakura said softly.

"That's the beauty of this ritual. After it's complete, I _will_ have charka. I will no longer be one of those incapables!" Yasu chuckled. "I won't be considered the _weakest_ link of my family and my clan will once again be restored."

"How do you plan on completing a jutsu this large without any charka?" Sakura asked.

"I have the help of a kunoichi," Yasu answered simply.

"Ino won't be much help," Sakura taunted. "Let her use even a _little_ ninjutsu and she'll break out of her trance."

Yasu only laughed and glanced back over his shoulder. "Princess, are you ready?"

Slowly Hinata walked into view and Sakura's eyes widened. She had never seen Hinata like this before. She was so beautiful that Sakura wasn't even sure if she could blink. Then that's when she remembered that Ino kept saying that she was looking for a princess. She was forced to remember that Ino and Hinata were suddenly becoming closer as she was being pushed in the background. They were trying to get rid of her and there was no one here to save her.

Sakura fought against her chains trying to break free but with no success.

Hinata brought up her hands just as the men had, however before the ritual could begin, she suddenly voiced, "Yasu, what about the strawberries?"

_'Hinata's voice...seems different...everything about Hinata is different,'_ Sakura concluded as she stared at her teammate. Hinata's expression was blank. She hardly blinked and didn't seem nearly as innocent or shy as before. The girl standing there in Hinata's body was bitter and cold.

"They should be coming, my Lady," Yasu answered.

"Good," Hinata replied.

"Hinata-chan," Sakura called out. "Hinata-chan what happened to you?!"

"Don't talk to me as though we're friends," Hinata coldly answered, never once putting down her hands. "Sakura...you are a very selfish person and you don't deserve anyone. You are cruel and abusive and short tempered. You're shallow and self-centered. It's not fair that the Hokage plays such favoritism to you."

"I...I'm not sure what you're talking about," Sakura began, although she was nervous. She felt as if there was a gun placed to her head, but it was a jutsu. Hinata...was planning on using whatever strange jutsu that Yasu had against her, and her teammate didn't seem to have any remorse.

"You're being controlled!" Sakura shouted.

"No!" Hinata snapped, "You're only mad that I finally found my voice! I finally found the courage to speak out against people like you!"

"Hinata...please...open your eyes," Sakura begged, but Hinata wouldn't listen.

"When you see me, Sakura, what do you see?" Hinata suddenly asked.

"What...what do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"What do you see!"

Sakura flinched, however hesitantly answered, "I...I see a sweet, kind girl. I see someone who's typically shy, but underneath it all...you're a really good person."

"But you don't see me as your competition," Hinata concluded.

"Competition...for what?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto has always looked at you. He's done so much for you!" Hinata growled.

"Naruto...Naruto's my friend," Sakura awkwardly replied.

"He's loved you so much and you did nothing to deserve it!" Hinata shouted.

Sakura was stunned, not by what Hinata said...but the fact that she yelled. Yasu started laughing from how amusing it all was becoming. 'Don't you like her much more like this?" Yasu laughed, but Sakura couldn't find her words. Instead she continued to stare at Hinata in disbelief that two of her teammates were being mentally controlled like this.

"You already ruined my chances with Naruto...I won't let you take Ino from me as well," Hinata vowed. Sakura could hear pain behind all of the anger in Hinata's voice. Sakura parted her lips to say something but stopped when she heard the sound of someone enter the room. Her eyes trailed over to the entrance to see Ino. Her heart was rapidly beating in her chest. She was scared, excited and nervous all at the same time. She wanted to cry out Ino's name, but couldn't find her voice.

Then that's when she saw that Ino was carrying a bucket of strawberries. They weren't any strawberries but the jeweled ones that they saw before near the springs. Hinata then turned toward Ino and carefully tilted her head to kiss the lips of the other. Hinata...too shy for physical contact, was kissing another girl. Sakura wasn't sure if she was awake or not. Her eyes were tearing up. She felt silly for crying now, but she couldn't stop her vision from blurring or the hot tears from rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't even wipe her eyes. Hinata took the bucket from Ino and walked over to Sakura so that they were standing right in front of each other.

"I'm the better person," Hinata told her. "I always have been the better person...as girls like you always made fun of me."

"I never did anything to you," Sakura said as she forced herself to smile. "Hinata...I thought we were teammates...this isn't the way of the shinobi..."

"Don't I deserve a happy ending?" Hinata asked, "As long as you're around...I will never be happy...why didn't you just go after Sasuke?"

"Sasuke? He...he doesn't like me," Sakura managed to say, trying to stay calm, adding little awkward laughs here and there. "He never did and I came to terms with this. I can't force...what's not there, you know?"

"Princess, talking won't avenge your suffering," Yasu spoke up, so without anymore hesitation Hinata shoved a strawberry in Sakura's mouth. The pink haired girl tried to spit it out, but Hinata forced it down her throat. The other girl gagged and choked a bit, but the little strawberry somehow went down.

"More," Yasu instructed, so Hinata continued. "Remember Princess, with every strawberry, the closer you are to achieving absolute happiness!"

Hinata was crying as she continued to force Sakura to eat the strawberries. Her tears were a mixture of frustration and anguish as everything she had bottled up over the years was finally crashing down. In her mind there was the voice. Hinata wasn't sure where the voice was coming from, but it comforted her. It urged her to continue. This voice continued to whisper to her that as long as Sakura continued to live then there would be girls to make her experience this personal hell that she was trapped in. She deserved to have her grudge avenged.

Sakura's eyes rolled back as she was having a difficulty keeping up with all of the strawberries. She couldn't explain how they able to go down her throat, unless they really were unique. There was a special quality that made the pieces of jeweled fruit slide down her throat as if it were nothing but pudding, but that didn't stop the pink haired girl from gagging and choking.

Sakura pulled together all of her strength and suddenly bit Hinata's fingers before crashing her forehead into hers. Hinata held her hand, but also winced from the pain she was experiencing in her head. At that moment the ravenette believed it was hopeless...even with Sakura bound, she wouldn't achieve the happiness that she wanted. She would never be counted as being desirable, strong, intelligent or anything special. She was the little ghost that floated in the background.

"_She's calling you weak..." _the voice whispered in her mind. _"She doesn't think that you and her are equals."_

Hinata continued to stare at Sakura as she continued to cough and gag against a strawberry that was lodged in her throat. She didn't say anything as the voice whispered, _"Are you strong enough to fight?"_

"Princess...why are you doing this?" Ino suddenly asked causing Hinata to immediately glance over at the blonde. _"Tell her that it's for the greater good. Tell her that there has to be sacrifices!" _Hinata couldn't say anything, she just stared at Ino. She felt like a child; a very scared child who was about to get in trouble. _"Tell her or I will."_ Hinata didn't want to say anything. Her feelings pushed her to the point where she tightly hugged Ino. "All I wanted was for you to love me," she sobbed. "I want to be loved by someone. I want to be someone's most important person. You make me love my body and feel beautiful. Ino-san, you make me feel alive. More alive than I've ever felt."

Ino slowly wrapped her arms around Hinata's body and the raven haired girl blushed and nuzzled her face down into her shoulder. She was so shocked that she said it. She was able to confess it. Love confessions were always so difficult for Hinata. Her heart was fluttering, her face was hot, but she felt happy. She had never felt happier.

"Do you love me too?" Hinata suddenly asked.

Sakura, while breathing hard, managed to focus her attention on the two. Her felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Her stomach was twisting in knots. "Ino," she whispered, before crying out, "INO!"

The blonde's wandered over towards Sakura. "Bunny-chan," she whispered.

"Ino," Hinata spoke up, causing the blonde to look back at her. "What's so special about her?"

"I...I don't know," Ino admitted with a light laugh. "I met her only today."

Sakura's grew wide as she felt her entire world shatter. Only today? She didn't understand how that was possible. How could Ino forget everything they had been through. They grew up together. They chased boys together. They tested their strength against each other. They became talented kunoichi together. How could she forget all of that?

Sakura looked towards the ground and lightly laughed. "Hinata...you say that you feel pain...you know what it's like to be bullied...to not feel beautiful...to not have any friends...I...I know what it's like too," she admitted before looking towards the girl. Her green eyes were glossy from the tears that were slowly trickling out. "I was teased...everyone made fun of me and said that I was ugly when I was little," she admitted. "I believed them. I didn't have much of a fashion sense...my mother wasn't a fashionista...I guess. Ino helped me...she helped for me to see that I was something special. In the academy, I wasn't a genius. There wasn't anything special about me. I don't have a blood trait or a famous clan. I was on a team with Sasuke and Naruto...and was always falling behind. I always needed to be rescued...and was constantly getting captured...like now..."

Sakura kept her voice calm, although it was difficult. All she wanted was for Hinata to hear her. To understand her. "I have really small breasts and my forehead is still too big...but...that's okay. I'm okay...and if you love Ino...I guess...I guess it can't be helped...I'm okay with that too..."

"You're lying," Hinata said to her, however her voice had changed once again. The person who was speaking was the one that was hidden in the back of her head. It was that unfamiliar presence that Hinata couldn't describe. That new found confidence that suddenly swelled within her. "You're lying!"

"I'm not!" Sakura protested. "I understand what you went through!"

"You know nothing," Hinata growled and she moved her hands once more to the ox formation. "I call upon the spirits beyond the veil...hear my cry and bring back the one who had departed from this earth too soon. I offer the life of this girl in exchange for Lilith. Give her back to us!" Then very quickly she went through the hand signs used for the jutsu. Ox – Bird – Dog – Rat – Ram – Monkey – Horse – Hare – Ox. She then pulsed her charka towards Sakura and the men who surrounded her followed suit. Energy connected the five men, so that there was a star of charka on the ground and Sakura was directly in the center. Energy shot up around Sakura and the girl started screaming as her body was trying to be transformed into a gateway. She couldn't say anything, but only scream. The charka shot up through the ceiling, through the upper level and out the roof.

"It'll only be a matter of time before the other two find us, princess, please don't break your focus," Yasu told her as he picked up a katana that was hanging from the wall. Hinata didn't break her charka focus and the fact that she already had a high level of charka made her the perfect candidate for pulling a complex jutsu like this.

"_See Hinata, you're being avenged," _the voice echoed in her mind, however for Hinata it was strange. She knew what she was doing, but she was watching it from the background. She was an outsider in her own body, but if she accepted this new persona as her...then maybe she would finally feel comfortable in her own skin? She would finally feel...beautiful. _"I know what would make you feel better Hinata...I know what would break Sakura until there was nothing left." _

"When the jutsu is complete, the five of you can have what's left of her," Hinata commanded. This earned perverted chuckles from the men.

Ino clinched her fist at her side. "Princess...this isn't like you," she whispered.

"What are you talking about, this is everything I _wish _ that I was," Hinata laughed. The portal was becoming larger. A hand reached out of the portal which was located in Sakura's chest.

"Please stop this, she hasn't done anything to you," Ino said a bit sterner.

"Quiet," Hinata commanded.

"No!" Ino snapped, "She's only a bunny!"

"Then why do you care?!" Hinata questioned as Sakura continued to scream in agony. More of the person's body that they were summoning was being revealed.

Ino moved to shove Hinata, however Yasu slashed his blade down between the two girls to keep the distance. "Ino, step out of line and you'll have to be punished," he threatened, "Maybe we'll start with cutting that pretty hair of yours."

"My...hair?" Ino repeated. At that moment she had flashbacks to the chuunin exams when she cut her hair in order to take the upperhand in her fight with Sakura. Slowly her gaze shifted over towards Hinata and she softly asked, "Hinata...why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Standing up for myself?" she laughed.

"No...doing this?!" Ino snapped before looking towards Sakura who never once stopped screaming. Blood was beginning to leak out of Sakura's nose, eyes, ears and mouth. She wasn't going to survive. "STOP IT!" Ino commanded as she rushed over towards the pink haired girl. When she tried to rush past the guys she hit an invisible force field. "SAKURA!" Ino screamed. Then a head pushed its way out of the portal and Ino found herself completely stunned. The girl had hot pink colored hair, lined with various curls. Her skin was deathly pale. One of her eyes were silver while the other was green. Her devilish smile revealed her fangs.

"Salutations," she greeted before blasting Ino back with some kind of strange energy, causing her to hit the back wall. She started forcing herself futher out of Sakura until she was standing there on the ground. The jutsu ended and Sakura suddenly fell limp, as her entire body weight was soon supported by the chains.

"Very soon Hinata-chan, I'll need the other half of my essence," she cooed, "But first, that wish. Remember that moment when you were in the bath, I temporarily granted it for you, because everything that touches this spa is rooted with my charka. It's apart of my entire being. I can grant you a wish. What is it that you want most of all."

"Most of all?" Hinata asked before taking the moment to think. Part of her wanted to wish that she could always be confident. She wanted to wish that she was popular and desirable. She wanted to be someone special. Before she could ask for anything, Shizune and Tenten rushed in.

"Get away from Hinata-chan," Tenten commanded as she prepared her scroll.

"Get away from her? Now why would I do that?" the mysterious woman questioned. "After all, I can give Hinata-chan more than anyone else had ever offered her."

"No way," Tenten gasped.

"Hinata move away from her!" Shizune stated rather seriously. Hinata took a few steps away from the woman, but suddenly positioned herself in a battle ready stance. "All anyone ever did was look down at me," Hinata told them, however that strange tone was once present in her voice.

"That's not true!" Tenten argued.

"Prepare yourself!" Hinata shouted.

"Tenten," Shizune whispered, "You need to hold Hinata off while I try to rescue Sakura."

"No, I can't fight Hinata!"

"Tenten, you're a kunoichi, it's your duty," Shizune reminded.

Tenten wasn't sure what to do. She didn't like the idea of having to fight her friends...there had to be a way to get through to Hinata. Something was controlling her. That didn't answer her question though...

Should she fight...? Or should she not...?

* * *

**OoC: **Oh my goodness guys, another chapter completed! I hope you like it! It's definitely darker than the earlier ones, but I have to bring in that angst, y'know? lol Okay what I'm going to do is actually take votes on whether or not Tenten should fight Hinata. Like I'm very tempted, because your reviews do influence what direction I decide to go in. I hope everyone's been having a very Happy Valentine's Day and Femslash February! I've already started coming up with ideas for my next Yuri fanfiction. I really think it'll be something with Sasuke and Naruto's mommies, too cute. Review!


	11. Whispers in the Air

Medical Strawberries

Chapter Eleven

Whispers in the Air

* * *

_'Who is that girl? She looks like Hinata-chan...and she sounds like Hinata-chan...but she isn't,' _Tenten thought as she stared at Hinata.

She had to admit...she was incredibly beautiful like this. The way the inner flaps of the kimono revealed a large amount of cleavage. Even the eyeliner caused Hinata's eyes to look far more intense than they usually did. Tenten would have been mesmerized if the situation weren't like this. And yet...she didn't prefer this Hinata. She missed the shy girl who was quick to offer apologies even when they weren't due. She missed the way her face would turn red if you offered the tiniest compliment. Seeing Hinata like this made Tenten realize how much she liked Hinata Hyuuga. She didn't know who her opponent was...but it wasn't Hinata.

She clutched her chain as she tried to make up her mind on what she should do. Shizune wanted her to fight. Tenten was sure there was another way. Her eyes glanced over towards Sakura who was hanging limp from the chains. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest. She swiftly fixed her glare upon Hinata.

_'I'm sorry Hinata-chan...but I have to do this.'_

Her thoughts were soon cut short when Yasu dropped down in front of her and Shizune and slashed his blade. "Move!" Shizune commanded. They both hopped back and continued to dodge the effeminate male as he slashed widly towards them. The entire time Yasu kept calling out, "Lilith do you see me?! Do you see how much I love you?! Bless me, Lilith! BLESS ME!"

_'Lilith? Whose Lilith?'_ Tenten wondered as she continued to doge the blade's path. Yasu was sloppy. He obviously wasn't a swordsman. Tenten tried to keep her mind on the fight, but she continued to think about Hinata. Was she really going to have to fight her?

"Pay attention!" Shizune shouted waking Tenten from her thoughts. She managed to lean back just in time, however the blade slashed her cheek, causing blood to spill down her skin. "TENTEN!" Shizune called out, however Yasu's movements were too frantic for her to get close enough. Tenten wanted to hold her face but knew she needed both of her hands for her jutsu to fully work. Guy-Sensei's training wasn't for nothing. She wouldn't lose to _him_. She did a backflip and kicked Yasu's in the face. When her hand touched the ground she gave herself enough momentum to stand once more on her feet.

"You did this to Hinata-chan," Tenten growled.

"Hinata did this to herself," Yasu laughed as his little bit of sanity was slipping away by the moment.

"You're lying!" Tenten snapped.

"Am I?" Yasu questioned as he gestured towards Hinata. "She's happy. She has everything she wanted. Beauty. Confidence. _Ino_."

Tenten whipped out both of her scrolls as her gaze stayed locked on the male.

"You don't believe me?" Yasu asked. "Hinata summoned Lilith-sama. She brought her back into this world!"

"Because you tricked her!" Tenten yelled as she launched herself in the air to perform Ninja Art: Twin Rising Dragons. Her scrolls flew around her as if she were a ribbon dancer. With her blood she started summon her weapons ready to strike her opponent down with a thousand blades. Before she could complete the jutsu Hinata suddenly appeared behind her.

_'She's fast,'_ slipped through Tenten's thoughts before she was palmed down into the ground. Her body crashed down into the floor. Tenten barely had time to think before Hinata was upon her. When her palm made contact with her back a sharp pain surged through her entire body. Her chakra points were being shut off and her chakra network disrupted. _'But...this can't be Hinata-chan...this can't be,'_ Tenten though to herself as Hinata continued to pummel her with attacks. The black haired girl didn't retreat until Shizune threw kunai in her direction.

Shizune started to rush over to Tenten to heal her, but Yasu cut her off.

"I'm your opponent," the male voiced as he launched another attack with his sword.

"I guess I can't keep holding back," Tenten lightly laughed as she stood to her feet. Hinata had positioned herself in a martial arts stance. Tenten had recognized it as the one that Neji often preferred.

_'I guess it really is you then,' _Tenten thought. As much as it broke her heart, if she didn't fight Hinata to her fullest, then she was going to get killed.

"You won't be able to summon anything," Hinata told her.

"I don't need to," Tenten laughed.

Hinata rushed towards her, trying to strike her with her gentle fists, however Tenten continued to dodge her fingers. Even with Hinata's heightened speed, Tenten was now completely focused. With every moment, she was trying to place herself even closer to Yasu. With a skillful maneuver she twisted his arm so that she could steal his katana and aimed it towards Hinata.

"You dont' know how to use it," Hinata told her.

"I can use _any_ weapon," Tenten smirked. "I'm a genius."

It was as Hinata prepared herself for that katana's attack that Tenten suddenly launched a number of explosive tags towards her. The Hyuuga was blasted back and skidded upon the ground. Tenten glanced over towards Shizune who had apprehended Yasu. They won.

"Teeheeheehee," she heard Hinata giggle as she laid on the ground. Slowly she glanced over towards Tenten. "You're very...very strong, Tenten-san." Even though she sounded like Hinata, Tenten refused to allow herself to be confused. "Let go of Hinata-chan!" Tenten commanded as she pointed the katana at the ravenette.

"But I _am_ Hinata," she said as she slowly stood to her feet.

"Freeze!" Tenten commanded, but Hinata didn't stop. Tenten's hand was shaking as it continued to point the sword toward her. She wasn't going to do anything and she was sure that this Hinata called her bluff. _'Something's controlling her, but what?'_ Tenten tried coming up with an explanation but her mind was blank. "Attack her!" Shizune commanded, but Tenten couldn't. Hinata launched another attack, which Tenten skillfully dodged. Then she had an idea, so she slashed the blade at the right angle so that it would slash through the fabric of Hinata's kimono. She wanted to embarrass the girl and throw her off of her game. Hinata stopped moving as bits of the kimino tore in a way where one of her breasts were exposed. She glanced back at Tenten and blinked a few times.

_'Score,'_ Tenten laughed to herself.

"You missed," Hinata told her.

"Huh?"

Hinata held up her hand and moved it as though she were going to strip off the fabric. Tenten could feel her own heartbeat speeding up. She couldn't think. "Tenten!" Shizune shouted and the weapon's expert was suddenly blasted with Lilith's strange attack, sending her flying through the air. Then Hinata rushed after Shizune to fight the medical ninja. Shizune was able to quickly dodge the girl's attacks, however it was obvious that she was even hesitating with the idea of harming Hinata too badly. If it were anyone else, she would have used his poison mist.

"I...don't give up," Tenten whispered to herself as she struggled to push herself to her feet. She coughed up a large amount of blood. Her insides were burning, but she refused to give up. "I don't want to give up...on you, Hinata-chan." Blood clouded her vision, however she saw the figures of Shizune and Hinata fighting. Yasu then stepped in front of her. "I think I'll be taking my sword back," the male said with a grin. He reached out his hand to steal his weapon back.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Tenten shouted as she kicked him with all of her might in his groin. The male dropped down to his knees and stomped down on his face. It was Yasu's fault that her cute little Hinata-chan was different and she would never forgive him.

_'He made Hinata-chan hurt Sakura-chan...Sakura-chan!'_

She immediately looked over towards Sakura had been hanging, and she saw the strange woman hugging onto her. She was whispering something into Sakura's ear...but Tenten was too far away to hear it. Tenten then shifted her gaze over towards Ino who unconsciously slumped against the wall. _'It's up to me to make this mission a success...I'm going to save everyone...,'_ she thought to herself and started pushing herself to run after Lilith and Sakura and the circle of men. She was pushing herself even though she could slowly feel her entire self beginning to break. The after effects of that strange jutsu was incredibly painful. So painful that she felt her body wanting to shut down. She could hardly breathe.

_'Don't give up on me...body...please...please body.'_

Her movements were slowing down. Her vision was blacking out.

_'Please body...give me the strength...to save everyone...I want to...'_

Tenten dropped down to the ground, face first.

"Hard work means nothing," Hinata told Shizune as they continued to fight. "Love is pointless."

"That's nonsense," Shizune said as she continued to dodge the girl's movements.

"Who loves you?" Hinata asked.

Shizune hesitated as she thought causing her to be struck with both of Hinata's palms. The woman was knocked back, but she managed to regain her footing.

"Who loves you then?" Hinata repeated. "You're not overly beautiful, or outgoing. Who could love you?!"

"Many people," Shizune told her. "Whenever someone thinks about you...that means you hold a special place in their heart. That's love Hinata. There are different types of it."

"But no one loves you more than life itself!" Hinata snapped. "No one admires you!"

"Do you feel as thought no one loves you?" Shizune suddenly asked.

"No one ever will!" the girl shouted as she launched an even quicker attack against Shizune. The jounin was knocked back, but Hinata didn't stop there. She continued to launch more and more attacks against the woman, trying to disrupt her chakra network. Before she could deliver a final blow, she suddenly froze. Shizune stared at the girl confusedly from where she had fallen upon the ground. Hinata was standing there as if she were nothing more than a zombie. Then slowly she looked towards Shizune and lightly smiled. The smile wasn't full of malice...but it wasn't Hinata's typical shy one either. Shizune wasn't sure what it was, but she had seen that smile before.

Hinata then turned and walked over to the circle of men and walked past them.

"What is our objective?" Hinata suddenly asked.

"Does it matter to you?" Lilith asked. "You're getting your wish, aren't you?"

"Right," Hinata hesitantly answered.

"Do you know what you're wishing for?" Lilith asked.

"I...I'm not sure yet," Hinata answered, before trailing her gaze over towards Sakura. "I summoned you...so why do we have to continue this?"

"Why do you care?" Lilith asked, "Wasn't it you who gave this girl to these boys?" The five men grinned and chucked perverted-manner towards the proposition. Hinata frowned, which caused Lilith to eye her suspiciously. "Do you need more of your medicine?" Lilith suddenly asked.

"Medicine?" Hinata asked, unsure of what she meant.

Lilith held up her hand and surged more energy into Hinata's necklace, with heightened her influence. Ino suddenly screamed out in agony as her jutsu released Hinata. "Interesting," Lilith answered before looking towards Hinata. "Kill them."

"Where are you going?" Hinata immediately asked.

"I'm off to complete the final stage of the jutsu," she voiced. "Once you finish, you're more than welcome to watch. After all, my love, the real show is about to begin." She stroked Hinata's cheek, before releasing Sakura from her chains. Before the pink haired girl's body could hit the ground, one of the men caught her. Lilith waved her hand causing her, the men and Sakura to disappear.

"Wait for me!" Yasu called out, however his boss was already gone. So he turned to Hinata, "You heard her. Kill them!"

"This isn't you, Hinata-chan," Shizune voiced. "You must fight this! Fight this or we'll have to kill you! Tsunade-sama wouldn't forgive me if I let anything happen to Sakura-chan!"

"So...this is about...Sakura-chan," Hinata mumbled. "I see...then...um...I guess it can't be helped."

"But it can, Hinata-chan," Tenten mumbled from her spot on the ground. "It can...always be helped..."

"Shut up," Hinata whispered.

"You're special...Hinata-chan..." Tenten continued, however she couldn't feel her body or bring herself to stand. It took a lot for her to just to speak. The pain was unbearable. She felt tears streaming from her face, but she had to speak...there was no way she could remain silent. "Don't give up...Hinata-chan...don't...don't give up..."

"Please...please shut up," Hinata cried as she grabbed onto her head.

"Because...Hinata...chan...I haven't...given up...on you," Tenten weakly laughed.

"This is ridiculous!" Yasu declared as he moved to stab Tenten with his katana however before the blade could make any contact, he was captured by Ino's Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu, immobilizing him. The blonde was breathing hard as she kept her hands in the formation.

"Hinata-chan...you...say that you...you don't feel like you're loved," Tenten voiced, however she was becoming weaker by the second.

Hinata clutched her necklace, however she felt that with Lilith gone, that other voice was becoming fainter. She was terrified. She didn't know why was so scared...but she paralyzed with fear.

"Hinata...chan...I...I know...that...even though you feel this way," Tenten continued. "It's not...true...you're loved by...by...several..."

"Shizune-sempai...do something," Ino voiced as she struggled to keep up her jutsu.

"I can't gather chakra!" Shizune replied trying not to panic.

"...because...you're very special, Hin...Hinata-chan...you're...you're...special to me," Tenten whispered before falling silent.

* * *

**OoC: **Guys, I feel so touched that you like my story so much! THANK YOU SO MUCH! xoxo This is my first fanfic in a looong time, so this really means a lot to me! If you haven't guessed from the way this story is turning out, I love Sailor Moon. XD I love possessed characters. Anywho, please review! Love ya!


	12. Just Say My Name

MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES

CHAPTER TWELVE  
Just Say My Name

* * *

"_Lilith-sama...help me...you said that if I assisted you that my wish would come true...please don't desert me..."_

Lilith could hear Hinata's thoughts crying out to her. After all, it was Hinata's blood that summoned her. They were connected. Their hearts beat in sync. "Continue to need me," the red and white haired woman smirked as she sprinkled strawberries into the hotspring. "Continue to say my name," she whispered into the air.

Shizune tied up Yasu with a rope that was used to tie up one of the old rugs. Once the male was in custody, Ino dropped her jutsu. Hinata sat on the floor sat on the floor, unsure of what to do.

"_You're unloved by everyone."_ she heard in the back of her mind.

_'But Tenten said...' _

"_They're not your comrades." _

_'But...Tenten said...'_

"_You're doing the right thing and you'll be rewarded!"_

_'But...'_

"_Don't you want your wish, Hinata-chan?"_

_'I do...'_

"_And what is your wish? What is your hearts deepest desire? Is it Ino's heart?"_

Ino had a bit of difficulty getting to her feet, however once he had, she limped over to where Tenten had fallen. Ino's own body had taken a lot of damage from Lilith's jutsu, but she didn't look as terrible as Tenten. The blonde dropped down to her knees and hovered her hands over the brunette's body. Ino knew that her medical ninjutsu wasn't nearly as good as Shizune or Sakura's. "This is bad," Ino voiced as Shizune crouched down at her side. Ino could tell that Shizune was trying to repair her body, but the process was taking too long. "I'm losing her," Ino said frantically.

"Focus," Shizune instructed. "Stay focused!"

_'I wish...'_ trailed Hinata's thoughts, however at that moment she could hear Tenten's voice in her head saying: "...because...you're very special, Hin...Hinata-chan...you're...you're...special to me." She was special. She felt a warm feeling flowing through-out her entire body. She slowly hugged herself as she took in her past actions. Everything was like a strange dream that she couldn't wake up from. She felt alive...however she knew that it wasn't fully her voice leaving her lips. It was Lilith who was brave enough to say all of those things. Even though she could faintly hear Lilith's voice, at that moment, she felt as if she had been abandoned.

The things Hinata wanted most of all...she had a list, however she couldn't focus. All she could do was hug herself very tightly to keep herself from falling apart. She felt as if her own arms were the glue and her body was made of broken glass. _'I wish...,'_ she mentally attempted, but the wish never came. What...did she want to wish for?

Ino continued to try and repair Tenten's body, however the damage was far more complicated than anything she had ever dealt with. She was trying to focus however her thoughts continued to drift back to Sakura. Sakura was taken away and she didn't know where. Sakura was hurt and Ino wasn't given the chance to help her.

"GOD-DAMNIT!" Ino suddenly snapped and released her flow of chakra. She grabbed at her hair, frustrated with her lack of progress. Even when she was needed, she couldn't step up to par. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Ino continued to curse as she moved to stand to her feet. Shizune suddenly grabbed her arm. "Ino...calm down," Shizune commanded.

"But-"

"Calm down."

Ino had never seen Shizune so serious. The expression in her eyes was far more intense than anything Ino believed was possible for the carefree woman. "I need you to do this," Shizune intructed. "Until my chakra network is fully restored, you have to do this!"

"But what about Sakura!"

"If we don't help Tenten, then we won't be strong enough to save Sakura-chan."

_'It's not fair...,'_ Hinata found herself thinking _'Even though Sakura-san is such a cruel person...even though she's very violent...everyone loves her. Naruto-kun, Lee-san...Ino-chan...everyone. I wish...I wish...'_

Ino struggled to maintain Tenten's heart beat. Even if the girl does survive, there was no telling if she would ever be able to use ninjutsu again. Ino continued to tell herself to focus. She had to save Tenten. She needed to see some sort of movement.

_'Lilith-sama, why did you take Sakura-san?'_ Hinata thought, and Lilith's voice soon replied, _"I need her for the final piece of the ritual. But before we can use her, we have to break her spirit."_

_'What more do...you have to do...?'_

"_You mustn't worry about it, Hinata-chan~"_

"Break her," Lilith commanded the men after Sakura was dropped at the edge of the hotsprings. "Once her spirit is broken, she'll be worthy of sacrifice. She must submit to me."

"You're making a mistake," Sakura whispered.

"A mistake? Really, and how is that?" Lilith laughed.

"Because I can become a really scary person when I'm pissed off," Sakura weakly taunted.

Lilith was far from amused and looked towards one of the men. "Hachiro-kun," she spoke up, causing one of the men to said, "Yes," out of acknowledgment. "You may be begin toying with this girl. I hope she's a better sacrifice than the other three that were delivered to you."

"Yasu-san likes to pick an interesting variety of women, doesn't he?" Hachiro laughed.

Sakura's eyes widened as she thought back to the original mission. They were supposed to solve the mystery of what was happening to the women. Each of the kunoichi that were murdered in this area were first violently raped before being mutilated. Then that's when she felt one of the men grab her by her hair, making sure they took in a fistful of her pink locks. It reminded her of that moment when she first cut her hair- how vulnerable she felt. She gritted her teeth, but she refused to give up. Hachiro moved in front of her and stooped down so that he was at her level.

"Now we can either do this the easy way or the hard way," he chuckled, "Although it won't really be hard for us, will it?"

He stroked her cheek, however Sakura knocked her face away.

"Well aren't you a little bitch," he chuckled, before looking back at Lilith. "Yeah, we're going to have a lot of fun with this one."

"I suppose you can take your time," Lilith told them. "I'm sure the Byakugan-user has finished killing the rest of those girls by now."

"No..." Sakura whispered in disbelief, her thoughts were cut short when she suddenly felt her body violently groped. Her face grew hot and her chin was suddenly grabbed by Hachiro. "Little girl, if I were you, I wouldn't fret about what's going to happen to your friends. I'd be more concerned about what's going to happen to you."

"No," Sakura whispered.

She felt the fabrics of her clothing starting to be torn away from her body.

"No!" she protested as she tried to fight them away. There were five of them. At that moment Sakura didn't see them as men, she saw them as hungry wolves labeling her as their prey. She tried to fight her way out of their grip, but it didn't work. The men continued to laugh.

Tenten gasped as she took a breath and Ino's body relaxed. "Thank goodness," she whispered, then turned towards Shizune. "She's responding!"

Shizune was glad, however she had another matter at hand. She kept her eyes fixed onto Hinata who continued to clutch tightly onto her necklace. "Hinata-chan," Shizune whispered, "Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

"She's gone," Yasu laughed, "The only thing that's sitting before you is a shell! A hollow, empty shell!"

Shizune ignored him and kept her gaze locked on the Byakugan user. Before her eyes, Hinata started lightly crying. "Hinata...Sakura-chan isn't your enemy...or your competition," Shizune tried to explain. "Both of you are unique in your own way...and special as individuals. Hinata-chan, you need to tell us where they took Sakura-chan."

"Lilith-sama..." Hinata began as she continued to hold her head down. "Lilith-sama..."

"I told you," Yasu laughed, "Her heart and mind belong to Lilith-sama~."

"Her heart and mind?" Shizune questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Zip, zip, zip goes my lips," Yasu chuckled.

"He's really starting to piss me off," Tenten coughed as Ino helped her to her feet.

"Heart and mind," Shizune repeated herself trying to fully understand.

"We're running out of time," Ino voiced rather urgently.

"Hinata-chan," Shizune voiced again, however the girl continued to clutch her necklace as she whimpered, "Lilith-sama...Lilith-sama."

"Ino...maybe...maybe you should talk to Hinata-chan...she really likes you..." Tenten suggested, although it seemed as though it were very difficult for her to say. However Ino shook her head, which caused Tenten to narrow her brows. "Why not?!" she snapped.

"Because Hinata deserves more than that," Ino told her, however she couldn't offer Tenten any eye-contact. "I don't...i don't like her like that, and I've been very terrible to give her as much false hope as I have. I'm sorry...I can't."

"Are you serious?" Tenten snapped.

"I can't," Ino repeated.

The brunette grabbed Ino by the collar of her robe and glared at her. "Hinata-chan needs you to," she growled. "She needs you to break her from that trance!"

"Then why won't you do it?"

Tenten stared at Ino when that question was asked...unsure of how to reply. Her hands loosened their grip on the other girl's clothes. Her gaze was no where near as serious as the one that Ino had. "Why won't _you_?" Ino repeated. Tenten swallowed before hesitantly answering with a light laugh, "Hinata-chan...doesn't like me."

"Lilith-sama!" Yasu cried out, "LILITH-SAMA SAVE ME!"

"Who exactly _is_ Lilith?" Shizune suddenly asked.

"Who?" Yasu repeated with a laugh. "You don't know?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have asked," Shizune told him, causing the male to laugh rather giddily. It was strange just how unreserved he was in comparison to how he had been before. Yasu was a completely different person now, and Shizune was trying to figure out why. What caused the difference?

"Lilith-sama was a great and powerful woman, more powerful than any kunoichi or _shinobi_ at that matter," he voiced with a grin. "She was so powerful that she had to be sealed away in a world of her own."

"Who sealed her?" Shizune asked. When Yasu started laughing, she repeated sterner, "Who sealed her?"

"Why Uzumaki Mito, of course," Yasu chuckled.

"Uzumaki...?" Tenten and Ino questioned in unison.

"Uzumaki...as in Uzumaki Naruto?" Tenten asked.

"The Uzumaki clan specialized in seals," Shizune explained as she kept her eyes on the male.

"It's only a matter of time," Yasu cooed, "Hinata-chan will make her wish finalizing the ritual. Everything else is in place."

"Hinata-chan wouldn't!" Tenten snapped.

"Oh but she would," Yasu chuckled. "Being aligned with you and your friends offers her nothing but a life of loneliness and insecurity."

"It's not like that at all!" Ino argued. "Hinata-chan has friends!"

"Plenty of friends!" Tenten agreed.

"And we care deeply for her," Shizune told Yasu with a glare before moving in front of Hinata and took her by her shoulders. "Hinata-chan," she whispered, "Hinata-chan, please come back to us."

"Lilith-sama..." Hinata whispered.

"SEE! I told you!" Yasu laughed. "That's nothing more than a charka filled _shell_- Hinata-chan! Make your wish! Make your wish and fulfill the prophecy! I'm sure they've already broken down that other girl's spirit by now."

"I wish..." Hinata began.

"No, Hinata-chan," Shizune begged. "Please think about what you're doing!"

"_Yes, Hinata-love. What does your heart desire? Tell me...tell me all you want and more..." _Lilith said rather seductively in Hinata's mind. So the ravenette replied mentally, _'I know exactly what I want to wish for...I wish that...'_

Ino rushed over to Hinata and dropped down in front of the girl. Tenten remained where she was previously seated and watched as Ino suddenly cupped Hinata's face with both of her hands. "Hinata-chan, you're a very sweet girl," Ino whispered, although there was a hint of desperation present in her voice. "You're a very beautiful and kind and smart girl. I believe you're more than a prize Hinata-chan. You're something special."

Tenten could feel her heart shattering as she watched. Even though she kept trying to tell herself that everything was for the best, it hurt more than any physical wound. She had to remind herself that Hinata would be happier off this way.

"Hinata-chan, you don't need Lilith to grant your wishes," Ino tried to reassure her. "I'll grant your wishes. I'll fix everything."

"Everything...?" Hinata softly answered, causing Shizune to smile. That was the first thing that Hinata said that wasn't connected to Lilith.

Ino nodded before explaining, "It's because you're very special to me, Hinata-chan. I want nothing more...than for you to be happy."

"I'm glad," Hinata whispered as tears streamed down from her cheeks. "I...I have a wish."

"What is it?" Ino asked.

"I wish for Sakura-chan to disappear..."

"_And so it shall be done."_

Tenten, Ino and Shizune's eyes grew wide as Yasu fell into another laughing fit.

* * *

**OoC: **Hi guys, sorry that the chapter took soooooo long. I've been very, very busy. Running a show and everything, while still working on my book. However the play has put me back on my publishing process. :( Anywho, I hope you enjoy! I'm hoping that I'll be able to update very soon. I have lots of ideas of what direction to go in!

Please review! It lets me know that you're enjoying the story! Plus, reviews do help influence the direction I go in. xoxo


	13. Like a Drug

MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES

Chapter Thirteen

Like a Drug

* * *

"I wish for Sakura-chan to disappear..." those words seemed to echo through Ino's mind as she stared the dark haired girl in disbelief. This wasn't happening. There was no way that this was happening! Sure Sakura was her rival and there were moments when she convinced herself that her unhappiness was linked to the other girl, but she never wanted her to disappear. It wasn't until recently that Ino realized how important Sakura was to her. The thought of not having her anymore was too much.

"Why...?" Ino whispered as tears filled her eyes. "Why Hinata-chan...?" Her sanity was cracked. She could feel large cracks running against the thin piece of glass she called her composure. Her mind was chipping away as she tried to stay calm. All she kept asking was, "why". Yasu stopped laughing for a moment and looked around to see what would happen. There was silence causing him to furrow his brows out of pure confusion. "Lilith-Sama...?" he began, before crying out, "LILITH-SAMA, SHE MADE HER WISH!" "Why...Hinata...?" Ino repeated and shook the girl by her shoulders. She couldn't fight against the tears as she continued to shake the emotionless girl.

Hinata lightly started to sing a lullaby. Ino took a breath unsure of what the song was until it clicked in her mind...that strange jutsu. "Stop it!" Ino commanded, however the girl didn't. It was as if Hinata were in a trance. Blood started to leak out of the necklace that was around her neck, then suddenly it shattered and Hinata collapsed.

"It's over," Yasu told them before shouting eagerly, "It's over!"

"What's wrong with Hinata-chan?" Shizune suddenly asked, however Ino didn't respond, she was trying to grasp the reality of the situation. "No," Ino whispered, before glaring over towards Yasu. "Where's Sakura!"

"I'm not telling you," Yasu laughed.

Ino growled, "Then I'll just search your thoughts until I find out!"

Shizune knew that Ino was no where close to the mental-abilities that her father possessed, but from the expression that was upon the blonde's face...you couldn't tell. She was determined to do anything that she could. Shizune then held a kunai to Yasu's neck and whispered, "I suggest you tell us or you won't be able to see your _Lilith _again." The blade was close enough to sting the skin causing him to crack. "Okay, fine, fine. The...the um...the hot springs, just move-" Shizune removed the blade causing him to sigh in relief, although he smirked, "Not that it matters. Lilith-sama already has everything she needs. The ritual is complete."

"What's going to happen to Hinata-chan?" Tenten hesitantly asked.

"Well you must understand that whenever you curse someone, _two_ graves are dug," Yasu smirked. "That jutsu will continue to use her life energy until it's all gone. Of course during this stage she's trapped in a lovely dream that will never end, even after she's dead. That was the deal of course. She gets her happy _ending._"

"You're a monster!" Tenten shouted, however Ino didn't stick around and raced out of the room. Shizune watched Ino for a moment, then quickly looked back at Tenten. "You should give her backup!"

"I'm not leaving Hinata-chan!" Tenten argued.

"Follow, Ino. That's an order!" Shizune commanded, as much as it pained her to say it. Tenten once again shook her head. "I'm going to save, Hinata-chan. Even though it may look like she betrayed us, I don't believe that Hinata-chan realizes what she's doing!" Tenten protested, "Please let me handle this!"

"But you don't know medical-ninjutsu!"

Tenten weakly laughed before shrugging, "I don't, but I do think I can help bring Hinata-chan back. I'll let her know that she has plenty of friends. I'll break her out of her spell!"

"What makes you think that you can?" Shizune questioned.

"Because that lullaby that she was singing...is the one that I was singing when she was sleeping," Tenten explained, "It was the one that mom would sing...I'm surprised that Hinata-chan heard it. Even though she doesn't love me...we still share some kind of connection. Even the littlest connection can break curses."

"Fine," Shizune reluctantly said as she stood to her feet. "Take care of yourself." Shizune left and Tenten couldn't help but feel as though she had let the older ninja down. She felt as if she had let Ino down as well. However no one saw the situation like Tenten had. Sakura wasn't the only victim here...Hinata was as well. Hinata was trapped in a strange place in her mind, being controlled and manipulated by a witch. Lilith was taking advantage of Hinata's own human weaknesses...and it wasn't fair. The more Tenten thought about how unfair it was, the more upset she became. "Tenten...?" Yasu spoke up causing her to glance over. "I know how you can help her."

"Why should I believe anything _you_ say?" she growled.

"Fine, don't ask me," he laughed, "It doesn't effect me any."

Tenten took a moment to contemplate what she should do. Her eyes glanced over towards Hinata, then back towards Yasu. She was very irritated. "How do I help her?" she asked.

"The only way to free her from that state is to kill her," he smirked, causing Tenten to move as though she were going to attack him, but she decided against it when he continued, "Killing her will break the curse. There is a chance that she won't actually die because you'll be killing the _princess_."

"Killing the...princess?" she questioned before snapping, "That doesn't even make sense!"

"Or does it?" Yasu questioned with a laugh.

Tenten looked back at Hinata, then her gaze trailed towards the strawberry that she wore around her neck. It reminded her of the jeweled strawberries that were back at the hot spring. She remembered how they were all taking a bath together...and how innocent it had started. They were told that they would be given a wish. "Why Hinata-chan?" Tenten whispered as she knelt down beside the girl. She tried peeling back one of her eyelids, but it didn't help. She was breathing, but no matter how hard Tenten shook her the girl wouldn't wake up. "I don't believe that this is what you want! Getting rid of one person won't change anything! Getting rid of someone else won't make you a happier person!"

Tenten's nerves were on edge, she was on the verge of panicking, but managed not to. Instead she leaned over Hinata and placed both of her hands on the side of her face. "Hinata, what was your wish back at the hotspring?!" There was such and urgency in her voice, that after a few seconds of not receiving an answer, she continued, "I need you to tell me, Hinata-chan!"

"My...wish?" she mumbled in her sleep.

She spoke? Hinata responded to what she was saying, meaning that she was getting through to her!

Tenten quickly answered, "Yeah your wish. Do you remember what it was Hinata-chan? The first one."

"I...I want to be...desired...I just want to feel as though...I matter," she whispered. "I want to be beautiful..."

"But you are beautiful!" Tenten protested. "You're very beautiful, Hinata-chan!" Although the more she spoke, the more embarrassed she felt. Tenten wasn't one for romance. She had seen several other people involve themselves in relationships, but she was never able to personally grasp it. She often blamed her teammates. Even though she was inexperienced, she knew that Hinata was as well...and that gave her confidence. _'Hinata-chan likes Ino though...'_ she soon reminded herself. No, what she was saying wasn't for her own benefit...she wanted to help her teammate.

She was determined to free Hinata.

"You're so kind, Hinata-chan," Tenten added. "I can't think of a single person who dislikes you."

"I can," she whispered, which confused the weapon's expert. Tenten hesitantly asked, "Who?"

"Me...I dislike...myself..." Hinata whispered. This time her voice quivered a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hinata-chan, but-" Tenten began, however Hinata continued to whisper, "I'm worthless...no one will ever love me...I'm fat...I'm not talented...I'm weak...I'm annoying."

Not knowing what else to do, Tenten suddenly clamped her hand down over Hinata's mouth and plugged her nose. She waited for a moment and watched as the girl started to turn blue. No matter how much Hinata struggled, she didn't let go. "C'mon," she whispered to herself, then suddenly Hinata snapped her eyes open. "Score!" Tenten cheered.

The dark haired girl coughed and wheezed as she tried to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry, but there was no other way," Tenten told her.

"Thank you, Tenten-san," Hinata whispered.

"How did you?!" Yasu began, however Tenten only shrugged, before pointing to her own head. "It's because I'm a genius. Deal with it." Then the girl stood to her feet and held out a hand to Hinata. Hesitantly the ravenette allowed her hand to touch hers, and stood to her feet. Then that's when she looked down at her attire and blushed out of embarrassment. She swiftly moved her hands to cover her breasts, not wanting too much skin to be exposed (especially from the hole that Tenten had ripped earlier).

"I don't understand," Hinata said.

"You don't?" Tenten asked, before adding, "Do you remember anything?"

Hinata started to shake her head, however suddenly her eyes widened. She immediately glanced over towards the chains that Sakura was hanging from, then towards Yasu. Her hand moved to touch her necklace, and the reality of the situation settled. Her head hung in shame, and she couldn't bring herself to give Tenten any eye contact. "I...I don't know why I did the things I did," she whimpered, feeling her emotions wanting to take over her. "I don't know why I wished what I did..." She moved both of her hands to her face and started to cry.

Tenten bit down on her bottom lip unsure of what to say at first, however suddenly wrapped her arms around Hinata, hugging her tightly. The action surprised the girl, to the point where she wasn't sure how to respond. Her face was incredibly hot. No matter how embarrassed Hinata felt, she didn't push Tenten away.

"Do you think that Sakura-chan is better than you?" Tenten suddenly asked.

"Naruto-kun likes-"

"This isn't about _Naruto-kun_," Tenten interrupted, causing the girl to timidly cringe. "You should never base how you feel about yourself on another person. Why are you in competition with Sakura-chan?"

"I...I don't know," Hinata whispered.

Tenten hugged her tighter, causing Hinata to slowly return the hug.

"I've always admired how strong she is...even when she had nothing, she pushed herself and became strong," Hinata admitted.

"But you're strong too!"

"No...not like Sakura-chan..." Hinata whimpered. "She's so very reliable, while I only get captured...it's not fit for a Hyuga to be that way."

"Stop comparing yourself to other people's standards," Tenten told her before pulling back and staring at the ravenette. "Hinata-chan, right now, I want you to name three things that you like about yourself."

"Three...?"

"Aren't you running out of time?" Yasu asked them with a snort. "I would've expected you to go after your _friends._"

"They're fine," Tenten replied as she kept her eyes locked on Hinata.

"I...I like that I've mastered the Byakugan," Hinata voiced.

"Okay cool," the other girl replied, "What else?"

"I...I...I like that I try to...make a positive difference in other people's lives."

"One more."

"I...I like...my um..." Hinata gestured to her own chest. "I...I can't say the word. But I like mine...they're not small..."

Tenten blushed briefly, however swiftly asked, "Do you feel better?"

Hinata hesitantly nodded, however she suddenly started blushing again, which confused Tenten.

"Is something wrong?" Tenten asked, then suddenly Hinata quickly kissed the girl on the cheek before swiftly withdrawing from her. She quickly bowed her head multiple times, apologizing continuously.

"Hinata-chan," Tenten spoke up as she knelt down to Hinata's level. Then suddenly she pressed her lips to the dark haired girl. Tenten kissed her as deeply as she could, and eventually Hinata kissed her back. When their lips parted, neither girl knew what to say. All they could do is smile.

"Are you ready to save, Sakura-chan?" Tenten asked.

Hinata nodded, although remembered the necklace around her neck. "I...I can't take off this necklace until someone else...makes a pact with it."

"What exactly do you have to do to make a...pact?"

"You...um...you have to use...blood," Hinata whispered. "Whoever's blood is inside of the strawberry...is sealed with the pact..."

"How do we stop it?" Tenten asked.

"I...I don't know," Hinata answered.

"I already told~," Yasu cackled. "Death. There has to be a _death._"

"Hinata-chan is not going to die!" Tenten growled, however Hinata sighed, "No...it's true...I...I'm afraid that I will...um...if Lilith-sama...I mean...Lilith dies...then there's a chance that I'll die too." Tenten stared in disbelief, however Hinata suddenly forced herself to smile, a gentle, but sad smile towards her teammate. "But it's okay, Tenten-san...if sacrificing myself...is the only way to prove that I'm sorry...I'm so very sorry for the mess that I've caused...then I'll do it. It's the way of the shinobi-"

Tenten slapped her causing the girl to stop talking. Hinata stared at Tenten in disbelief, although saw that the expression the girl held was a rather angry one. "I'm not going to let you do that!" Tenten snapped. "So get that idea out of your head! Life is filled with all sorts of handicaps and it's up to us to figure out a solution around them! I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you!"

"But..." Hinata began.

"Forget about it, Hinata-chan! Because whether you believe it or not, you're special! There's only one Hyuga Hinata!" As Tenten spoke she took out a kunai and slashed one of the loose fabrics of Hinata's lenghty kimono and tied it around the girl's chest for censorship. "Even if I have to figure out a different way to get rid of Lilith without killing her, I will! I'll do anything to keep you alive, just as both of us are going to work really hard to save Sakura-chan!"

Hinata nodded, before voicing, "Right!"

"But first," TenTen voiced before moving over to Yasu and kicking him at the back of his neck to knock him unconscious. "Now let's go!"

Then the two girls rushed off to assist Ino and Shizune. As they ran, Tenten just had a bad feeling. As much as she tried to ignore it, it was still there. They had no idea how strong Lilith was...but if she was drawing off of Hinata's strength as well, then they were going to be a difficult position. No matter how intimidating their opponent, she reminded herself that she wasn't about to back down.

Tenten was going to give her all in the final fight!

* * *

**OoC: ** n it's almost 3am guys. I love you sooo much that I stayed up till 3am to work on this chapter. Lol. I've been adding bits and bits over the last couple of days, but life has been crazy. Next week starts tech week for the show I'm working on, then after that, more time! Whoo! It's funny because when I originally wrote this story I didn't think that Tenten was going to get as much screen-time, but I was wrong. Lol. Anywho, for my Sakura and Ino fans, definitely look forward to the next chapter cuz that one's going to focus on the stuff going on at that other scene. I would've added more to this one, but it's laaaaate. I'm practically passing out!

Anywho, please review. :) Your reviews actually help push me to keep writing! Love you! Night! Xoxo.


	14. Bittersweet

**Medical Strawberries**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Bittersweet**

* * *

A pained gasp broke from Sakura's lips as she curled up. The last bit of her clothes were torn away from her, leaving her bruised body raw and exposed. She felt unclean as each of the men decided to take their "turn" with her. The entire time Lilith continued to watch with this cat-like grin plastered onto her lips. Sakura could feel her spirit breaking, until finally the wish was made. Lilith grinned even more as she gestured for the men to stop. Sakura's body was filled their toxic poison, she felt sick to her stomach, but fought desperately against the urge to cry. She hated them, most of all she hated how weak she felt.

"Did you hear that?" Lilith asked her.

Sakura didn't reply, she continued to stare down at the ground as _milk_ dripped from her mouth from where she was assaulted before.

"She made the wish," Lilith laughed. "It's time, Sakura-chan. It's time for you to become the sacrifice."

"Sacrifice…?" Sakura whispered.

"That's right, the sacrifice," Lilith laughed as she crouched down to the pink haired girl, and stroked her face. "And what a lovely sacrifice you'll be. You're perfect."

"I'm far from perfect," Sakura spat.

"On the contrary, you are," Lilith told her. "Your pink hair...and green eyes…you really are a little strawberry, aren't you? Your expertise in Medical Ninjutsu heightens your compatibility."

"They'll come for me," Sakura told her.

"Well, that should be entertaining," Lilith laughed before turning towards the hot spring. She outstretched her hands and started channeling her energy until a beam of light shot down from the sky into the water. It was a strange type of energy. Sakura wasn't sure if was charka or something based off of a particular element. All she did know was that it was powerful. Energy attempted to push them back as the light grew brighter and brighter until Sakura's vision started to burn. This light was incredibly warm, and Lilith laughed wildly as it grew in intensity. Then suddenly Sakura felt a chain dart out of the light and shackle one of her wrists. Sakura tried to fight against it, however her other wrist was soon shackled as well. Then the pain was channeled into her body. Sakura tried her hardest not to scream, however it was extremely difficult.

"Submit," Lilith told her. "Beg for it to stop."

Sakura continued to grit her teeth as she fought against the pain that was ripping through her. She could see a gateway opening for her and the chains were trying to tug her in, but as long as Sakura's will was strong, she didn't budge from her spot.

"Fight as much as you want, but it won't matter," Lilith told her. "The wish was already made, meaning you belong to _me_."

"LIAR!" Sakura screamed.

"Oh really?" Lilith laughed. "But you see, I was given permission to make you disappear. Your own teammate asked for this."

Sakura didn't want to believe it.

"I'm only waiting for the right moment to steal you away."

"You're lying," Sakura gasped, however the energy intensified even more causing a scream to rip its way out of her mouth. She couldn't stop screaming in agony as she felt as if her insides were being torn apart. She tried focusing on her chakra to break the chains, but the pain was too much. Her heart was racing too quickly in her chest. At that moment, Sakura knew she was going to die…and her fear swelled within her. She was screaming for it to stop. She was screaming for someone to help her. She was screaming for everything to end.

All around her she saw a bright light it slowly faded to a moment when she was younger and first started learning about being a kunoichi. She saw her younger self sitting In the small class of other girls, out in a field of flowers, learning about which ones were poisonous and which ones weren't. The younger version of herself was always so awkward around the other kids.

"Sakura-chan," her teacher spoke up, causing the young girl to glance over. "Out of the two flowers, which one do you think is poisonous?"

"Uh," left the pink haired girl's lips as she looked completely clueless.

"She wasn't paying attention, sensei," a girl spoke up, causing Sakura to look a little panicked.

"Yeah, she was too busy staring at Ino-chan," another girl teased.

Ino slowly glanced over in disbelief, causing Sakura to look even more embarrassed.

"Well I can see why," Ino spoke up with a mischievous grin. "After all, out of everyone here, I'm the flower-expert. I think I may know even more than you, sensei!"

The teacher laughed towards Ino's enthusiasm, "Very well." Then she turned towards the rest of the class. "I want all of you to go out into the field and locate five different types of flowers. When you return tell the class which ones are poisonous and which ones are not."

As everyone stood to their feet, the two girls from before moved to both sides of Sakura.

"Don't expect Ino-chan to save you next time," one of the girls taunted.

"Yeah, billboard brow," the other girl laughed, causing Sakura to hold her head down.

"So what's your _talent_ anyway?" the first girl taunted as she pushed her arm. "Aren't your parents a bunch of nobodies?"

"Yeah, I heard that someone who can't practice ninjutsu is just a regular person," the second girl laughed.

"My parents…my parents are cool," Sakura argued causing both girls to burst into a fit of laughter. So then Sakura continued, "Because they're my parents…and not everyone has theirs."

Both girls stopped laughing and stared at Sakura.

"What are you trying to say?" one girl growled as she shoved the girl down. "That you're better than us?"

"Even though you're nothing but an ugly pink-haired freak!"

"You better apologize to us if you know what's good for you!"

"Aren't you supposed to be finding flowers?" Ino asked as walked in on the little scene. "Or should I tell sensei that you're too busy _harassing_ Sakura-chan."

"We're not afraid of you," one of the girls snapped at Ino.

"Yeah, if you know what's _good_ for you then you'll back off, otherwise we'll have to tell everyone that you're secretly a lesbian!"

"You don't even know what a lesbian is," Ino laughed.

"It's an ugly girl who fucks with other ugly girls," one of the girls laughed, causing Ino to laugh as well. Then that's when the blonde pointed at the two girls, "Then I guess that makes both of you lesbians!"

Offended, the two girls hurried away, not wanting to bother with the conversation anymore. Sakura was stunned; after all, this wasn't the first time that those girls had bullied her. This also wasn't the first time that Ino had stood up for her. The last time they teased her about her forehead, Ino gave her a ribbon to tie her hair back. Ino was always looking out for her, and always protecting her. It was a little embarrassing that she couldn't stand up on her own.

"I don't think you're a lesbian," Ino told her, before adding with a laugh, "Or ugly."

"Thanks."

"But um, Sakura-chan, don't let those girls put you down," Ino added, "Because there's something special about you. I don't know what it is, but I like to be around you! So don't ever change."

Don't ever change…those words seemed to echo in the air as the scene broke up.

Sakura saw herself in the ninja academy after she and Ino had tied in their match for the Chuunin exams. Both girls were sitting quietly in the medical ward, not daring to say anything to each other. Sakura found herself glancing over at Ino, who was glaring ahead. "Ino…" Sakura spoke up, causing the other girl to briefly glance over in her direction. "So I guess this means we're really rivals, huh?"

"Sakura, what's the point of this conversation?" Ino growled.

"I want to hear it. We're rivals, right?"

"Regarding…?"

"Everything," Sakura explained. "I'm your equal, not your shadow."

"I never fucking said you were my shadow," Ino snapped. "I don't even know why you're always trying to compete with me!"

"Hey, don't make it sound one-sided!" Sakura retorted.

"Because it is!"

"What about Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura asked, "I'm your competition with that!"

"What because I cut my hair?" Ino scoffed.

"No, because I'm just as pretty as you are! I'm just as girly as you are! And I'm just as strong as you are!"

"God, Sakura, get a clue. I don't think Sasuke-kun likes either of us," Ino mumbled, causing the pink haired girl to fall silent. "You know, maybe if you weren't such a bitch, you'd be cute."

"And you're one to talk?" Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, I'm a bitch, and Chouji needs to lose weight. What else is new?" Ino casually stated.

"Then I don't mind," Sakura answered. "If I can be a strong kunoichi, then I don't mind being a bitch either."

"That's a weird thing to want."

"I want to be strong enough so I don't have to be protected. Even though I don't come from a spectacular clan, I want everyone to acknowledge me as being…I don't know…special?" Sakura asked.

Ino fell silent.

After a moment Sakura asked, "What?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not!" Ino argued. She suddenly fell silent when Sakura had moved so that their faces were only inches apart. Ino blushed, however Sakura maintained her serious expression. Ino's eyes darted away as she stammered, "I mean. If you want to be something special, then do something about it. If you don't have any talents, then find one."

Sakura slowly moved back, stunned by that answer. "Find one?"

Sakura could hear her own words echoing through the white room, as she screamed excitedly, "Lady Hokage wants to take me in as her apprentice!"

The scene didn't play and Sakura remained in the white light. There was no sound around her. There was not a sky for her drift into or a ground for her to stand upon. There was only…nothingness.

"Ino-chan," Sakura whimpered as her body felt numb floating about the empty space. "Ino-chan…I tried so hard. I tried not to give up…but I can't figure out how to get out of here. I'm not talented."

Even though she worked as hard as she did, she didn't feel as if it amounted to anything. Then suddenly a flower petal drifted down in front of her. It was a pink flower petal from a Cherry Blossom Tree. She glanced up and saw more flowers raining down from the nothingness. Each flower petal was laced with the same energy from before. This was part of the jutsu.

"And now it's time for you to disappear," Lilith's voice cooed in the breeze that swirled around her. Sakura tried running, but regardless of what direction she ran in, she always ended in the exact same place she started.

"Submit and the process will be painless," Lilith instructed.

"No!" Sakura shouted as she channeled what was left of her strength into her fist and she charged it down into the ground. Black cracks formed against the white floor, leaking out pink light.

"Be careful or you might send yourself somewhere you _don't_ want to go," Lilith threatened.

"This room is where the ritual's happening, right?" Sakura asked.

"Precisely, and if you're a good girl, it'll be over rather quickly."

"I'd rather go to hell," Sakura laughed as she charged her fist down onto the ground causing more of the ground to break apart. Bits and pieces of the earth fell into the dark abyss beneath the white room. Pink rays of light shined up from the space.

"Don't be stupid," Lilith told her. "If you submit to my jutsu, then you'll be able to stay in a pleasant dream. You'll be in a place where you'll have the chance to be with that boy you liked so much. What was his name? Ah, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura was stunned.

"It played out in your thoughts and memories," Lilith's voice explained. "I see everything that you think of here. You're in love with Sasuke and vowed to be stronger to impress him. Did you want to help him restore his clan?"

"I did," Sakura admitted.

"Then submit and—"

"However _did_ is past-tense," Sakura continued, "And I've grown past that goal. There's only one thing I want."

"And what's that?" Lilith snapped. "Revenge on Hinata-chan for putting you here? Maybe on Ino-chan for betraying you?"

Sakura smiled, which caused Lilith to immediately ask, "Why are you smiling?!"

"Because I'll be able to accomplish my goal, to do something great as a kunoichi," Sakura said with a light laugh. "I guess you're going to take you another lifetime to find someone to replace me."

Then Sakura closed her eyes and fell backwards into the darkness, as she plummeted down head first she saw images of her teammates flash before her eyes. She saw Naruto's goofy smile, she could hear him saying, "I'll do my best, Sakura-chan, that's a promise."

'_Please become Hokage…Naruto…'_

"I think you're very strong, Sakura-chan," Rock Lee suddenly spoke up.

'_I think you're a lot stronger,' _she bitterly laughed.

"A little rough around the edges, but you have potential," Tsunade told her.

'_I hope I was a good apprentice, Tsunade-sama,'_ Sakura whimpered.

"You've grown, Sakura," Kakashi noted.

'_Thank you, Kaka-sensei.' _She laughed despite the tears forming in her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, I'm glad we're finally on a team together!" Tenten laughed.

'_I'm glad too,'_ Sakura cried a little harder.

"Sakura-san," Hinata began.

'_It's alright, Hinata-chan…I don't hold anything against you….'_

Her body plummeted even faster into the nothingness, the white light was becoming smaller and smaller. She was falling into oblivion. Even with all of the people who appeared in her thoughts, she couldn't find Ino. She wanted to think of Ino, but whenever she tried to force it she felt her thoughts shift back to the reality. She would never see Ino again. She would never get the chance to tell the girl just how she felt about her. All she wanted was for Ino to acknowledge her as being her equal. She didn't want to follow behind Ino like a lost puppy, but walk beside her.

"Sakura-chan," she heard Ino say, and that's when she was able to see the beautiful blonde in her thoughts. Sakura smiled a painfully sad smile. "Sakura-chan, why did you do this?"

'_This is for the ninja world…I couldn't let that jutsu happen…I couldn't let Lilith win,' _ she tried to explain, however Sakura was now having second thoughts.

"Aren't you scared, Sakura?"

'_A little…'_

"You're lying," Ino voiced.

'_Only a little…'_ Sakura admitted, however then Ino started breaking apart before her eyes. _'Ino, please don't go.' _Sakura mentally begged, however the girl disappeared, and suddenly the realization of what was happening set in. "INO!" she screamed as the pink lights continued to zip past her.

She was going to oblivion…she was going to oblivion alone.

Sakura convinced herself as long as she had something…

As long as she had something to physically remind her of Ino, it wouldn't be so bad…

Then maybe she could kill herself and be freed of the loneliness…

"All I want is my ribbon," she cried. "The red ribbon that Ino gave me when we were kids…that's all I want."

And suddenly the pink lights formed the item and Sakura was able grab onto it. This place granted her wish then again it was linked to the hot spring. She only had one wish and she used it on the ribbon. She laughed lightly, however it was more of a pained laugh.

Pink light was beginning to break through her body, however Sakura didn't feel a thing. Her body was beginning to deteriorate. She closed her eyes as she waited.

All that was left was to wait for the inevitable.

"SAKURA!" she heard Ino yell.

'_That's kind of cruel…to taunt me like this,'_ she thought.

"SAKURA!" she heard Ino yell once more. Her voice sounded too realistic. It was too clear and had a strained, panicked quality to it. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed Ino diving towards her. Sakura was speechless as Ino positioned her body in a way so she could cut through the air, falling at a faster rate that Sakura had been.

"Ino…" she said, unsure of why she was here. Then it hit her, by chasing after her, Ino was throwing away her life as well. "What are you doing?!" Sakura snapped. "Do you understand what this place is!"

Ino then grabbed onto the other end of the red ribbon and pulled herself close to Sakura's body as they continued to plummet down further and further from reality.

"You're throwing away everything by being here!" Sakura shouted. "What about Konoha?! What about the mission?! What about stopping Lilith?!"

"I don't care," Ino told her.

"Don't be stupid," Sakura cried, "As kunoichi it's our mission—"

"I don't want you to disappear," Ino told her as she hugged the other girl's naked, violated body. "Because I think a life without you, isn't much of a life worth living."

Sakura couldn't find her words, then that's when she managed to look towards the direction that they were falling and that's when she saw an ocean of glowing pink water. It was the source of the strange light before. At the speed that they were falling there was no way that they could survive.

"Ino…I'm…I'm scared…" Sakura suddenly said.

"It's okay," the blonde told her, before hesitantly adding, "I'm scared too. Just close your eyes and it'll make it easier."

"Ino there's something I want to tell you," Sakura swiftly blurted out.

"There's something I want to tell you too," Ino said.

"Ino, I-"

They both plummeted into the pink water causing a large splash to shoot up, before settling back into place. Even as they sunk to the bottom, neither girl let go of their hold on that red ribbon that linked them together as friends, but also their fate.

* * *

**OoC: **So I was invited to start writing for my friend's web-series that he's putting together. I'm hoping to get a few more writing project like things. The play I'm working on is almost complete so I should be able to update a little more often. Also, if you guys are a fan of yaoi, you should check out "Onryo Beach", it's basically a male version of Medical Strawberries. Not the same story, but a similar concept, as in dramatic situation + love triangles. However that one's going to scarier, while this one is very angsty. Lol. Once this one wraps up, I'll start a new yuri story. Anywho **Please Review! xoxoxo **


	15. Vows

**MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**VOWS**

* * *

Shizune stared at the bright light in pure horror. Ino had darted in only moments before, however she saw no sign of the girl being alright. The various men were lying on the floor from the gas that she had used. The only thing left to do was take on Lilith and Shizune was standing alone. Tenten stayed with Hinata and Ino and Sakura had disappeared. Tsunade was not going to be happy.

A strange pulse of energy broke from the sphere of light, causing Shizune to quickly bring up her arms to brace herself. When the light died down all she saw was Lilith. The woman had an irritated expression pinned to her face, however the sight of Shizune's distress caused her to smirk.

"Ino-chan...Sakura-chan..." she mumbled to herself.

"They're gone," Lilith told her simply. "But that doesn't mean that the ritual is ruined."

Shizune's eyes widened.

"Just as, even though you used poisonous gas, doesn't mean that my associates are dead," she added with a light laugh.

Shizune swiftly looked towards the men on the ground, and sure enough they were started to slowly push themselves up. The dark haired woman whipped out her kunais ready to launch them at the men, however she hesitated.

"You realize it, don't you?" Lilith asked her.

Shizune didn't answer and slowly glared over towards the woman.

"You realize that even if you kill them, they won't actually _die_, now will they?"

In a swift motion Shizune jumped and sprayed her poison fog towards the bodies to stop the movement. When they dropped down to the ground, Lilith erupted into another laughing fit. Seeing no other chance, Shizune jumped towards her, slashing her scalpel. She was too close to use any of her darts or poison, but saw it as the opening of striking the other woman.

Lilith dodged effortlessly. Regardless of how many times Shizune swung at her, she seemed bored. Finally Shizune hopped back, breathing hard, but never released her blade. Lilith yawned and offered a smug little grin.

"Are you finished yet?" she asked.

"What did you do with Ino and Sakura!?" Shizune snapped.

"They entered my heart," she giggled. "The ritual is almost complete. Almost all of the wishes are collected. So tell me, _Shizune_, what is it that _you_ want most of all."

Shizune didn't reply as her glare remained on the girl.

"There must be something, Shizu-chan," Lilith cooed as she stepped towards the woman and flirtatiously touched her scalpel. "Wasn't it Tsunade?"

"That would be inappropriate," Shizune told her.

"Would it be?" Lilith laughed. "Can you really define what's appropriate and what's not when it comes to _love_?"

"Of course!" Shizune argued as she moved back from the girl.

"You should give up," Lilith said, "Look around you. No one's here. Everyone's dead."

"I don't believe that."

"Hinata killed Tenten. Sakura and Ino are trapped in oblivion."

"I don't believe that!" Shizune yelled as she charged at Lilith again. Once again, Lilith dodged all of her advances. She laughed the entire time, and bopped the dark haired girl on the top of the head to frustrate her even more. Shizune pivoted around to stab Lilith however stopped when she saw that she was suddenly back in Konoha, standing in Tsunade's office.

The room was empty and even though Shizune told herself that it was a genjutsu, it all felt so real. She could hear the sounds of the birds chirping outside and smelled the often stale scent that filled Tsunade's office. She rushed over to the window and looked out and saw all of the people running around down below, carrying on with their tasks as citizens of Konoha.

"This isn't real," she whispered to herself.

"Shizune," Tsunade voiced as she walked in to the room. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Where were you?"

"Um...I suppose here," she began, however the answer only seemed to irritated the blonde.

"Besides that. Beforehand."

"I...I don't know," Shizune replied, feeling even more unsure of herself. "Where is Sakura-chan and Ino-chan? What happened to Hinata-chan and Tenten-chan?"

Tsunade arched a brow not fully understanding the reasoning behind the questions.

"What about the mission about the raped kunoichi?!" Shizune snapped.

"Oh that?" Tsunade laughed, "You closed that mission months ago. Who would have thought that the inn keeper was the rapist all along."

Shizune stared in disbelief.

"You really don't remember where you were prior to coming here?" Tsunade asked.

Shizune shook her head and looked down at her hand to see that she was holding a pencil instead of a scalpel. Tsunade stepped towards her and placed her hand on her forehead to take her temperature.

"Well, you don't feel warm," Tsunade sighed before moving her hand to feel the girl's neck. "So it doesn't look like a fever. Shizune, do you think you need to take a break?"

"A...a break?" Shizune repeated.

"You obviously need one," Tsunade sighed, however this all was beginning to look like a pain. She strolled over to her desk and plopped down in her seat and focused her attention on the younger adult. "You know, you've seemed strange every since you came back from your last mission."

"The...jeweled strawberries?" Shizune asked.

"No," Tsunade sighed. "Orochimaru's subordinate who specialized in memory genjutsus."

"Memory...genjutsus?"

"Every since you've returned all you do is repeat what everyone says and zone out," Tsunade complained. "I think you might need to take a break, it may help you to cope with the loss."

"The...loss?" Shizune whispered.

Tsunade sighed again.

Then that's when Shizune realized something. "Where's Tonton?"

Tsunade looked at her for a moment before realizing what she was talking about. "Ah, that's right. You don't remember. You took him on that mission and he was killed in the process."

Shizune stared at Tsunade.

"I know it must be hard for you to take in, but these things happen," Tsunade explained. "It's part of being a shinobi."

"Tsunade-sama...Tonton is a girl," Shizune hesitantly said.

"I'm a little forgetful sometimes. Sue me," the blonde said dismissively as she started looking through her paperwork.

"Tsunade-sama...Tonton was _your_ pig...not mine..." Shizune added.

Tsunade stopped looking through her paperwork.

"Tsunade-sama...who was your deepest love?" Shizune hesitantly asked.

At that moment Tsunade looked up towards her with a suggestive smirk and stood up from her seat and leaned forward, leaning against the desk. A chuckle broke from her lips and she tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, my deepest love has always been you, Shizu-chan."

Shizune bit her bottom lip and suddenly took a deep breath. "And Dan-ojisan?"

"What about him?" Tsunade asked with a dismissive shrug.

Shizune suddenly smiled and bowed her head. "Nothing M'lady," she voiced and returned to her usual posture. "I should go find Tonton."

She turned and started walking to the door.

"Wait," Tsunade spoke up.

Shizune stopped walking.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" the hokage asked.

Shizune felt her heart starting to beat a little faster. Why was she suddenly so nervous? She knew that this was a genjutsu...and yet everything felt real. Even the office had it's usual smell. The floor boards creaked as they always had. She could hear the hokage walking to her and yet Shizune didn't budge from her spot. She continued to listen to the rapid beating of her heart.

She felt arms slide around her, tugging her into a hug from behind. She could feel Tsunade's soft breasts pressed into her back, causing her to feel even more nervous than before. Even though this was a genjutsu everything felt so real. Shizune continued to try and focus her energy to break free from it, but couldn't. She was trapped.

_'Oh no...'_ trailed her thoughts.

Tsunade pressed her lips to the Shizune's neck. Her soft lips against her skin sent chills up her spine and a lump formed in her throat.

"Isn't this what you've always wanted?" Tsunade asked. "Isn't this your deepest wish?"

A light laugh broke from Shizune's lips. Tsunade gave her a suspicious look.

"You know nothing about my deepest wish," Shizune told her as she broke Tsunade's grip and whipped around. She didn't have her weapons, but she was determined to fight.

"You think you can win against_ me?_" Tsunade asked.

"I wanted to think that this all was a genjutsu," Shizune admitted, "But that's not how your skills work. You're not a ninja. You're a witch."

"More like a goddess, but bravo," Tsunade grinned as she shifted to reveal that she was Lilith.

"Your magic is strengthening itself by influencing my memories, thoughts and desire," Shizune continued, "But I want you to know, you don't know me as well you thought you did!"

Lilith's confident smirked slowly faded into a scowl.

"I don't want to take Tsunade's heart. I may love her, but I'm content with it being one-sided!" Shizune yelled. "I'm content with simply being by her side and being of service!"

"If we were to go by wishes, my wish would be for everyone to be safe and to protect my village!" the medical ninja concluded before charging at Lilith to attack her with hand to hand combat.

She wasn't able to land the first punch before she was blasted back, her body flying through the air and breaking through the wall. Her entire body was in pain and Shizune could feel her blood starting to pour from her wounds. It was warm...and felt so real. There was no way she was imagining this pain.

"This is still the real world," Lilith told her. "Can you see through all of the smoke and mirrors?"

Shizune opened her eyes to see that Lilith was standing over her. The red headed woman grabbed Shizune by the top of her head and gave her hair a forceful tug. "You were probably the closest to figuring out the secrets behind my magic. But I guess you won't live long enough to see the final twist. Aren't you curious about how this story ends?"

"You lose," Shizune whispered.

Lilith slammed the woman's head against the wall causing a pained gasp to break from Shizune's lips.

"If you apologize then I might spare you," Lilith whispered in her ear. "I could use a medical ninja...especially when I resurrect my army. I would have used the pink haired girl, but I needed her for the sacrifice. If you apologize, then the pain will stop."

Shizune's eyes trailed over to Lilith.

"Good girl," Lilith cooed.

"Is that how you convinced Hinata-chan?" Shizune whispered. "You offered some sort of promise...?"

"Ah, the vessel," Lilith voiced.

"That's where you're wrong," Shizune lightly laughed as she looked up at the woman. "Hinata-chan is more than just a vessel. Just as I'm more than a _tool_. I'm a ninja of the village Hidden in the Leaf...and I won't let you destroy it."

Lilith glared at the woman, her hand trembled as she continued to grip her hair.

"You can't control someone who doesn't allow you too," Shizune whispered.

"SHUT UP!" Lilith shouted as she slammed Shizune's head into the wall once more. "IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I'LL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU!"

"Then you won't have your medical ninja," Shizune lightly laughed.

"I'll find another," Lilith sneered as she dug her nails into the raven haired woman's scalp. A high pitched whine broke from Shizune's lips as Lilith dug her nails deeper and deeper. "Apologize!" Lilith commanded. Shizune continued to whine not being able to form words. "Apologize and I'll forgive you!"

In the midst of the agony...for Shizune, time felt as if it were slowing down. She no longer could hear Lilith and the pain was so constant, her body was tumbling into a state of shock. For that moment, she could briefly see Tsunade. She could see her standing in front of her...she had that same expression she use to wear...back when Shizune considered herself more of her student.

"_Rule number one; __No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end."_

"_Rule number two; No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines."_

"_No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon." _

_'I'm sorry Tsunade-sama...I guess I broke all of your rules...' _trailed Shizune's thoughts as the world around her faded back to the Hotspings.

The medical ninja stopped screaming and Lilith released her grip on the woman. Her limp body to dropped down to the ground and Lilith stared at her.

Then the woman took a moment to look at her blood stained hands, as well as her nails that had bits of skin caught underneath the surface. "Pity," she grumbled, "You made me break a nail."

She turned back towards the hot springs and stepped towards the edge of the water. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a deep breath. Her eyes closed to silence the world around her. A light shot out of the water, but unlike the last time, it wasn't pink, but red, surging into the sky, causing it to ripple as if someone had tossed a pebble into a pond. The sky's dark blues were slowly turning red, as the clouds faded into a darker pink.

Thunder rumbled, shaking the earth. A streak of lightning darted down from the ground, signaling for the rain to began. A laugh broke from Lilith's lips as a few of the crimson droplets ran down the sides of her face, slightly staining her skin. She licked her lips taking in the copper taste of the blood that fell from the heavens.

"My will be done," she whispered.

* * *

**OoC:** Long absence, but Spring Break for me is usually busier than typical life. lol. Anywho, review. Thanks. As a treat, I think I'll go ahead and upload chapter sixteen. (because I technically wrote both deciding which order to stick them in. lol.)


	16. Diagnosis of Denial

**MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**DIAGNOSIS OF DENIAL**

* * *

Slowly Ino opened her eyes to see that she was a beach covered in violet grains of sand. Her body ached and her clothes clung to her from how badly she was soaked. She glanced over and saw Sakura unconscious, yet still holding tightly to the red ribbon. Ino then realized that she was holding onto it as well. She glanced up to see that the sky was blacker than a piece of coal, with a pink moon that hovered far above them. The ocean was the color of silver, the froth of the waves colored in a bright pink.

Ino wasn't entirely where this place was. However she was cold and was sure that Sakura was even colder. She glanced over to see that the girl's naked body was shivering against the sand that was coating a thin layer against her skin. Ino wanted to clean her up and glanced around to see if there was anything available on the mass of land that they were trapped. That's when she realized that all of the trees looked like a work of art, rather than something you would see back at home. The trunks were shaped with stained glass, while the branches were made of wire. In the place of leaves, there were strange glass strawberries dangling in place. Up in the tree tops there was a little hut made of silver and rubies, with a staircase that gave away signs of its main material being glass.

Ino concluded that this must have been the place where Lilith was locked away. She wondered if this meant that the jutsu was initiated. "Did we…lose?" Sakura whispered.

"No," Ino said, not wanting to accept this. She stood to her feet and ran to the edge of the beach—where the sand met the water. "SHIZUNE-SENPAI!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "TENTEN!"

She waited for a response. She could feel her entire body shaking as her sanity was at its breaking point.

"SHIZUNE-SENPAI!" she yelled once again.

There was no response and Ino kicked at the sand trying to channel all of her frustration into it as well. "Fuck," she cried, "Fuck!"

"How did Lilith escape in the first place?" Sakura asked as she slowly stood to her feet, then quickly moved her hands trying to censor herself, if but a little bit. She was failing horribly, but continued to try.

"There's a ritual," Ino explained as she ran a hand through her hair. "Hinata participated in some kind of blood contract."

"Maybe there's still a chance to reverse it," Sakura asked, "Just as…maybe we'll be able to find the doorway she used? If she was able to escape this place, then I'm sure we can too."

"I don't even understand where _this_ is," Ino groaned.

"Then let's look for clues to find out," Sakura suggested and started making her way to the little, gemmed hut that sat in the trees. Both girls slowly climbed up the stairs, making sure to go one at a time to keep a balance on their weight. The hut was set up like a studio apartment. There were a few dividers, but for the most part everything was out in the open. Except the bathroom, that was in its own room.

There were charms and spells written all over the walls, as well as drawn portraits of a variety of women. Some who they recognized to be the rape victims from the Hokage's file.

"I'm…going to go take a bath," Sakura timidly spoke up and moved into the only actual room in the place. It was after the bathroom door had closed that Ino realized what Sakura had been staring at. On the wall there was a picture of the pink haired girl. Ino clutched her fist at her side as she stared at it. She wouldn't forgive Lilith for what she had done. She moved to the closet and grabbed one of the kimonos for Sakura to wear, then moved over to the bathroom. She held up her hand to knock on the door, however stopped when she heard the sound of Sakura crying. Quickly Ino opened the door and saw her friend sitting on the floor, hugging her knees.

"I'm disgusting," Sakura whimpered. "I tried to not let it get to me…but…I feel so disgusting."

"Sakura-chan," Ino whispered as she stepped closer to the girl.

"They…touched me Ino…all of them and," Sakura couldn't continue and buried her face more into her knees. Ino could tell that Sakura was trying her hardest to keep herself together. It was the way she continued to clutch her knees and refused to give the blonde any kind of eye contact.

"I thought it would have been easier…if I died," Sakura admitted, "Then I wouldn't have to live with the aftermath."

Sakura suddenly felt Ino hug her. Ino hugged her as tightly as she could and pressed her forehead to the other girl's temple. "For someone with a big forehead I expected you to say something smarter," Ino lightly laughed. "Sakura…like I told you before…I can't imagine living without you…you're my best friend and…"

Sakura smiled brightly at the blushing blonde. "You're my best friend too."

Then gently Ino pressed her lips to Sakura, not wanting to rush anything too much. She wanted to give Sakura the chance to recover after all that those men did to her. Each kiss felt delicate against her lips, like a butterfly gently landing on a flower petal. Her fingers lightly stroked Sakura's hand, as they hesitantly intertwined with the other girl's fingers. Ino believed that without a doubt she cared deeply for Sakura.

"Once you get cleaned up, we can start looking for a way out of here," Ino whispered after her lips parted from Sakura's. The pink haired girl nodded and Ino stood up and placed the kimono on the back of the chair near the vanity, then walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She partly wondered what Shikamaru or Chouji would do if they found out. She was sure that they would be in disbelief about a lot of things that happened on this mission.

Of course the reality of the situation soon set in…

If she and Sakura were trapped here, then she would never see Shikamaru, Chouji or Asuma-sensei again. She also had no idea if Tenten was able to get through to Hinata. She and Sakura waere trapped…alone…in this strange place. She strolled over to the window and peered out to see that the ocean stretched on into nothingness. _'Shizune-senpai, please find us,'_ she thought as locked her gaze on the waves continuously crashing on the beach.

She heard the sound of the bathroom door open. She glanced back to see Sakura dressed in one of the kimonos, while towel drying her pink hair. She wasn't even sure of how much time she spent staring out of the window. She wasn't sure how to properly distinguish time in the place.

Lilith somehow escaped from this place. They had to find the missing pieces to the puzzle.

"We need to start looking for clues," Ino suggested.

Sakura nodded in agreement, so the two girls started searching around the little apartment. Sakura found herself staring at the charms and spells that were written on the walls. She knew that she had seen the writing before…but couldn't place it. Even then there was a key that they had to locate.

"Maybe we should search outside?" the pink haired girl suggested, causing Ino to glance over. "We could even split up to cover more ground…"

Even though Ino wanted to agree with the suggestion, there was something off about Sakura. Even though she suggested for them to go their separate ways…she could tell that the other girl didn't want to be alone. So the blonde strolled over to her and took hold of her hand, causing the other girl to jump a little.

"I promise that I'll never let anyone touch you like that again," Ino vowed.

"Please…don't…" Sakura whispered.

"No!" Ino snapped. "What's happen was terrible!"

"It was," Sakura agreed, "But I'm not saying…that I never…want to be _touched_ again…just not by them…"

"I don't understand," Ino argued.

"The only person I want to touch me is you!" Sakura snapped. "So don't make promises like that!"

Ino couldn't find the proper words. She couldn't say anything at all…

Sakura was crying; her body was trembling, however she fought as hard as she could to keep speaking. "Ino….I lied when I said you were only my best friend…I…I like you…I like you more than I've liked anyone…more than Sasuke-kun…more than Naruto…"

Ino stammered over her words, but couldn't reply.

Sakura grabbed her hand and held it tightly and lightly laughed, however her pain was present in her voice. "I'm not weak…as a kunoichi…I'll get past this…and I know there are things I'll never get back…but…"

"We need to figure out a way to get out of here," Ino interrupted as she moved her hands from Sakura's. "And when we do…I'm going to do all that I can to take away your pain."

"You can't," Sakura mumbled.

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!" Ino snapped and rushed out of the apartment and hurried down the glass stairs. Sakura rushed after her, however Ino was determined. She wandered around looking around for something that was out of the ordinary. She noticed the strange iron trees that seemed to form a weird type of garden around the hut that jutted up into the air. Ino rushed into the bizarre garden and checked every statue. She ran her hands over ever surface she could.

She heard Sakura calling out her name, but she didn't stop. Then that's when she saw it, there was a pool of water, where the stones were lined with diamonds. She saw a shaft of some sort partially hidden by the diamonds. She dove her hands into the water and grabbed onto it. Before she could pull it out a surge of pain channeled into her entire body, causing her to immediately let go.

Sakura rushed over and grabbed onto Ino before she could try grabbing it again.

"Let go of me!" Ino commanded.

"What if it kills you!?" Sakura snapped.

"What if it's the only way out of here?!" Ino argued.

"I'm not going to stand by and let you kill yourself!"

"I'm not going to sit around and do nothing!"

"There's another way!"

"Is there?!"

"OF COURSE?!"

Ino looked away from Sakura and focused her attention once more on the sky.

"Lilith is able to strengthen her magic with our wishes right?" Sakura suddenly spoke up, grabbing a hold of Ino's attention. "A wish is only something that you haven't obtained. It's a dream. In exchange for granting someone's dream, you have to focus all of your thoughts and energy on her…"

"Yeah…?" Ino agreed, not seeing how this benefitted them at all.

"If you grant your own wishes, then Lilith can't gain anything from them," Sakura explained. "When we took that first bath, we were told to make our wishes. At that moment, I think we were linked to Lilith. That's why she was able to hypnotize you…she was trying to grant your wish. Technically moments before you were brainwashed, she tried granting my wish too…"

Sakura moved a little closer to Ino and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "We have to stop making wishes…"

"What was it that you asked for?" Ino asked.

Sakura swallowed hard and pulled her hand back as she tried to piece together her response, however her embarrassment kept interfering.

"I don't know what I wishing for," Ino admitted. "I'm not sure what it was that I wanted…my head was everywhere…"

"Maybe you were wishing for simplicity?" Sakura supposed, however Ino shrugged, unsure if that was it or not. "Ino…I guess my wish was a little more selfish than that," Sakura continued, however Ino could tell that she was hesitating. There was something that she was afraid to say. Then suddenly Sakura wrapped her arms around Ino, to hug her from behind and rested her forehead on her shoulder. "My wish was to be closer to you…almost like how we were a long time ago…but different…I never wanted to be in your shadow Ino…I wanted to—"

"You weren't in my shadow," Ino snapped, however swiftly caught herself. "I mean…I didn't want us to become rivals…or whatever happened to us."

"What about what you said…back at the Medical Ward…"

"I was only talking," Ino admitted.

"Instead of a promise built on revenge…let's make a vow to each other," Sakura suggested. "When we return to Konoha…I want to go on a picnic with you."

Ino felt herself blush, but that didn't stop her from smiling. "In a field of flowers."

"Under the full moon," Sakura added.

"Naked," Ino grinned, causing the other girl to stare in disbelief. "I kid, I kid," Ino laughed.

"No, I like that idea," Sakura shyly laughed.

"Aren't you…I don't know…still uncomfortable because of what happened," Ino began.

"It hurts…in more ways than you can imagine…but…I'm a kunoichi. I…I can't let something like this stop me," Sakura voiced, however it was obvious that she doubted some of her words. So Ino leaned in and lightly pressed her lips to her and whispered, "Let's work together to get out the staff and then we'll decipher the spells on the walls."

Sakura nodded before pressing her lips once more to Ino's. After the kiss, the two girls moved to the edge of the water and stooped down. Slowly they both reached their hands in to grab onto the staff, fighting against the pain that ripped their bodies.

* * *

**OoC: **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter (I don't usually post two in one day lol). Once again, I would have had it done sooner but a lot of personal drama in life. Aye yiyi. Anywho, I love your reviews! Stay tuned to see what happens next! Byebye. Please review. Xoxo


	17. Emergency

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**EMERGENCY**

* * *

Lilith's technique stretched across the entire sky. An evil aura swept across the land, as spirits started to creep up from the graves of her ancestors. She was beginning to summon an army and no one was there to stop her. The army soon appeared all around her, however they hovered as spirits. They couldn't speak, however continued to stare towards her. The red-haired woman scowled out of irritation and glanced back over her shoulder towards Shizune. She needed a medical ninja. Without Sakura, Ino or Shizune, her ritual couldn't be completed.

She looked back towards her army and said, "I will remedy this."

Her army started to stir a bit, causing Lilith to glance back towards Shizune to see Tenten. The brunette clutched tightly to her scroll, with a glare fixed onto the woman. Some of her injuries from her earlier battles still remained, but it didn't shake her determination.

"Does this mean that you killed Hinata-chan?" Lilith asked out of pure amusement.

Tenten opened her scroll without taking daring to take her eyes off of the woman.

"What do you hope to accomplish by fighting me?" Lilith asked. "All of your friends are dead. Two are trapped in oblivion, the medical ninja is dead and the Byakugan user is dead."

Tenten started grinning which puzzled Lilith.

"What?" the woman asked, "Why are you so confident."

"Because I believe in my friends," Tenten announced. "Just as I know they're believing in me."

"Pfft, you're wasting your time," Lilith grumbled. However Tenten shared the same eyes that the other girls held. That unwavering faith sparked her temper. Suddenly she blasted energy towards Tenten. The girl quickly scooped up Shizune's body before hopping out of the way, barely escaping the attack.

Lilith continued to attack the two, however stopped when she Tenten leaped on the roof of the resort. She didn't want to destroy the building that acted as her family's shrine. "Come down," Lilith called out, however Tenten did not reply as she gently laid Shizune down.

"Senpai, don't worry," Tenten whispered. "Hinata-chan and I have a plan."

Shizune didn't reply.

Tenten stood up and looked towards Lilith. With her scrolls she summoned several weapons that hung in the air by her ninja thread. Lilith didn't appear intimidated. In one swift move, Tenten launched the weapons down at the woman only to have her weapons shot back. A yell broke from Tenten's lips when some of the kunai cut against her skin. The force almost pushed her off of the rooftop, but she adjusted her weight before tumbling over the edge.

A breath left Tenten's lips. She needed more time. She had a problem, but no solution. _'Lee, what would you do?'_ she suddenly thought. She already tried rushing in. No, she needed another reckless idea that would catch Lilith off guard. But who was reckless? _'Naruto Uzumaki...'_ she realized. Of course. Tenten mentally grimaced as she prepared herself for her next move.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!" she shouted as she moved over to the edge of the roof, in view of Lilith. Her body was aching, but she made sure to keep up the act before pointing down at the female. "You forget who you're up against! I'm a student of Might Guy!" She felt like some weird hybrid of Lee and Naruto, but it had Lilith's attention.

"It's cool that you had to use my own attack against me," she added. "I am pretty strong."

"Be quiet," Lilith growled.

Tenten threw a couple of kunai with exploding tags connected. With the correct timing they exploded moments before reaching Lilith, making it impossible for her to reflect them. Then the weapon's expert withdrew a kusari (or weighted chain) and hopped down to the ground, gripping it tightly. Without wasting another moment, Tenten charged at her with the chain, swinging it and launching it, hoping to strike the other woman. Lilith's movements were so quick that it was difficult for Tenten to fully pinpoint where she was. She didn't give up, after all, she considered herself to be rather skilled in taijutsu. It was with the closer hand to hand combat, that she realized where Lilith's weakness was.

Then that's when she saw the multitude of all of the ghosts. She hadn't noticed them before. Being this close made her realize how much Lilith relied on her fancy techniques. Tenten rushed upon the woman, going in for the kill with a kunai, however stopped when Lilith's arm suddenly stretched out as her fingers turned into long claws, impaling her.

"Does it hurt?" Lilith growled.

Tenten gritted her teeth as grabbed at the spot where the claws had dug down into her body.

"Is this the best that _you_ can do?" Lilith laughed.

Tenten coughed. Bits of blood broke from her lips. She felt Lilith twist her hand, causing her to scream in pain. It hurt. "I'm not scared," the brunette managed to say. Lilith furrowed her brows unsure of why Tenten was being so persistent. "Because...Hinata...Hinata-chan is stronger than you."

"That desperate little girl?" Lilith laughed. "What, is she trying to beat me to prove to Ino that she isn't worthless?"

"She isn't doing this for anyone," Tenten lightly laughed as tears streamed down her cheeks, blurring her vision. "She's doing this for herself."

* * *

_Tenten and Hinata were running down the hall; Hinata leading the way. Suddenly the raven haired girl stopped running and glanced around at the multiple doors in a panicky manner. _

"_What's wrong?" Tenten suddenly asked._

"_I...I can't remember which room held the mirror," Hinata admitted before bowing her head to whisper out her usual apologies. She didn't dare look at Tenten as she added. "I feel as though I'm always messing up somehow..."_

"_Think hard," Tenten instructed. _

"_I can't remember," Hinata whispered as she returned her gaze to Tenten. "She tampered with my mind...I highly doubt I'll make much of a difference. I...I'm not brave like you...or Sakura-chan...that's why Naruto-kun..." She couldn't finish her statement, and looked once more toward the ground. _

"_Hinata-chan," Tenten began. "Do you love yourself?"_

"_Love myself?" the girl repeated, unsure of where the question even came from. "I...of course I love myself...shouldn't we focus on the mission, Tenten-san?" _

_Tenten stared at her with concern. _

"_If someone walked up to you...and told you that you weren't pretty, or that you were worthless...what would you do?" Tenten suddenly asked. _

"_Do you think...all of those things...Tenten-san?" _

"_You would think that person was mean...wouldn't you?" Tenten asked. "You would wonder what you did to deserve that..."_

_Hinata didn't reply._

"_You shouldn't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't want someone else to say," Tenten said a bit firmer. "I could tell you all day what your positive attributes are, but only you can make you believe it. I believe you're strong. You have the potential to be a strong kunoichi, but you have to stop putting love first. Today's fight isn't about if you can win Ino's heart or Naruto's attention...today, right now, this is about you."_

_There was silence between the two for a moment, before Hinata moved and wrapped her arms around the other girl, and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Tenten-san." _

_A light smile slipped onto Tenten's face as she slowly returned the hug. She wouldn't admit it, but Hinata's body felt really nice against hers. Tenten wasn't the best when it came to expressing her feelings. She was a little embarrassed by her confession earlier, although she was sure Hinata didn't remember it. She was possessed, so how could she? _

"_I promise I'll try harder," Hinata whimpered. "I'm a ninja...I should never give up...I shouldn't turn my back on my teammates..."_

_Her new found confidence caused Tenten's heart to beat even faster. Their hug hadn't ended, and she suddenly felt her body press even closer to Hinata's. Tenten knew that she wasn't a romantic. Her teammates have even noted several times that she was more boyish than a lot of the other girls in the village. All Tenten wanted was the ability to show her feelings. Tenten wanted Hinata to know how quickly her heart beat for her. _

"_I'll try to retrace my steps to find the room," Hinata added. "Then we can figure out a way to reverse the spell." _

"_We?" Tenten suddenly asked._

"_You said that we were going to work together," Hinata gasped as she stepped back from Tenten. _

"_We are working together. My talents are better suited on the battle field," Tenten explained. _

"_Lilith is too strong!" Hinata argued, then quickly lowered her head. "I'm sorry. She's...she's not like anyone else we've ever faced before. She's really strong." _

"_Too strong for me?" Tenten asked with a huff._

"_If Naruto-kun were here...he'd be able to beat her..." Hinata admitted._

_Hearing Naruto's name caused Tenten's world to suddenly stop. She felt a lump in her throat, and couldn't find a single word. _

"_...but because Naruto-kun isn't here...I'll believe in you and Shizune-senpai," Hinata added._

"_I promise I'll be okay," Tenten told her with a confident toothy grin before fanning her hand in a cutsey manner before Hinata. "You worry too much." _

_The smile was forced. Tenten wasn't feeling nearly as confident as she had before. Naruto...even here, Naruto was noted of being their savior. No, Tenten wanted to be strong like Tsunade. She believed that girls were just as strong as boys. She wanted Hinata to believe that she was strong as well. _

_Then very suddenly Tenten leaned in and kissed Hinata on the cheek, and quickly stepped back. She didn't even stick around to watch the girl's face heat up, redder than a tomato. "Good luck, Hinata-chan!"_

* * *

_'I promise I won't die, Hinata-chan,'_ trailed Tenten's thoughts as her vision blurred. The world was moving slowly. She could hear her heart beating loudly. "She...won't be swayed...by you...anymore," Tenten lightly laughed.

The claws were pushed in further.

Tenten held back the pained groan through gritted teeth as she mustered up all of the strength she could and dived it into the side of Lilith's face. The red-head retracted her claws and stumbled back holding her face. Gravity and pain caused Tenten to drop to her knees, hugging her stomach as she curled into a ball.

_'What do I do...?'_ she thought to herself. She was badly injured...she was dying...

"_Tenten, maybe training would be easier if with your goal you have some sort of punishment!" Rock Lee announced to Tenten when they were training as kids. _

_The brunette girl offered him a strange look before huffing and looking away. "Lee, I don't want to get caught up in your and Guy-sensei's weird antics!" _

"_It's not weird!" Rock Lee argued. "It's to motivate you!" _

Tenten was tugged from her thoughts when she heard Lilith's shrill scream cry out into the air. She slowly looked towards the woman as her vision tried to focus on her. There was blood covering Lilith's face, but she wasn't dead. Tenten didn't know how the other woman was able to move.

"You little, Bitch!" Lilith growled. "You worthless, little cunt! You are a waste of space!"

Tenten managed to pull out one of her scrolls, however Lilith suddenly sent off another charge of energy, blasting the brunette right through the wall of the shrine.

The world was spinning. Even with her eyes shut, Tenten felt as if the world was spinning as her life continued to pour out of her. There was a piece of the puzzle she wasn't grasping. Something that no one was grasping. She slowly pushed her body up, but movement as a whole, was agony. She looked around at the room that she was knocked into and noticed that it was Shizune's room. She noticed where the medical ninjas bags were located. Tenten wasn't an expert at medical ninjutsu. She failed every test she had attempted when she was on her quest to be like the hokage. However she was desperate. She desperately needed something.

Before she could reach the bag a strange pulse rang through-out the building. "Huh?" broke from her lips as she looked around trying to make sense of it. Everything around them was glowing. She looked back towards the hole that she had fell through. She saw Lilith grinning, although her face was a gruesome sight.

"Then I guess i'll have to just sacrifice both you and the Hyuga~" she laughed.

"We'll see about that," Tenten weakly smirked.

* * *

**OoC:** Sorry I've been away guys. Life has been hectic. Officially all of my book stuff has been sent off, so now it's the waiting game again. I'll be sure to let you guys know of all of the fanpage info when that is available. I hope to update my stories more frequently, now that I have time! Also if you share or mention this story on Naruto Yuri blogs, that would be awesome. I feel like we're a small community :(


	18. New Symptoms and Conditions

**MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES**

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**NEW SYMPTOMS and CONDITIONS**

* * *

Hinata watched Tenten run off, unsure if she should chase after her or not. After a deep breath she turned around so that she could try her hardest to remember where the room was located. She struggled to not trip over the tattered kimono she was dressed in. She felt embarrassed the moment that one of her breasts threatened to tumble out of the thin fabric. Hinata Hyuga hated the situation that they were in, and was in a state of disbelief of how she had contributed. She wondered if her teammates hated her. Did they blame her for her all of this?

_'Tenten-san believes in me...just as I should believe in myself as well,' _she reminded herself. She could feel her chakra pulsing through-out her entire body. With a deep breath she brought up her hand and said, "Byakugan!" channeling all of her chakra into her eyes.

The world began a black and gray plane as she slowly scanned the area for the mirror. It was then that she noticed the strange markings on the wall. It took Hinata only a few seconds to realize that they were signatures. The entire house was a summoning scroll. There were so many names that she couldn't keep up with all of them, but she was able to determine that the situation wasn't good. Lilith was planning something...dangerous.

Her eyes suddenly widened when she caught sight of the large mirror. Quickly she took off running, accidentally ripping the kimono even more when she stepped on the long skirt. She pushed her way into the room. It was then that she saw the table that was off to the side, and her memories of signing the contract flooded back into her thoughts. Lilith couldn't be defeated until they destroyed the contract...or there was a chance that Hinata would be destroyed along with her.

"I...have to make things right," she whispered to herself.

She stepped in front of the mirror and activated her byakugan once more. Sure enough there were more markings upon the glass. With the correct quick hand seals, she stepped forward and slipped through the mirror.

Hinata was welcomed by a dark space, the only light was at the end of the tunnel. Faintly she heard whispers. She stopped walking and listened. She immediately recognized one of the voices and her heart fluttered. "Naruto-kun," she whispered. As badly as she longed for Ino or felt confused by Tenten, his voice left her captivated. She wasn't sure whether to follow his voice or head towards the light. Then suddenly he appeared in front of her, and Hinata's heart skipped a beat, her face heated up. Words were not produced.

"Hinata-chan," he said gently.

She didn't know what it was...but when she watched Naruto, she always felt empowered, but whenever he spoke to her...she suddenly felt very small. Part of her knew that he wasn't real. He was a distraction to keep her from completing her task...but he looked real. He sounded real.

Naruto stepped towards her and gently reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. He felt very real. She couldn't stop her face from burning as her blood rushed to her cheeks. He was so close to her. Naruto-kun was never this close to her. He never spoke to her as anything more than a friend, and yet the look he had in his eyes, the tone of his voice...that grin. Hinata could feel herself melting.

"N-Naruto-kun...I- I am surprised to see you here," she whispered.

"Surprise!" Hinata suddenly heard Ino laugh, causing her to quickly whip her head around.

"Ino-san," she said, reverting back to even more of her old habits, due to Naruto's presence.

"I've seen how you look at him~" Ino cooed, causing Hinata's eyes to widen in panic. She swiftly glanced over towards Naruto, but he didn't look alarmed. Instead he had this smug sort of grin placed upon his lips. It was very similar to the one that Ino wore.

"Oh don't worry," Ino told her. "He already knows~"

"But...I...I thought that N-Naruto-kun...liked...Sakura-san..." Hinata whispered.

"Fuck Sakura," Naruto snapped, causing Hinata to gasp.

"Don't you get it, Hinata-chan~" Ino cooed as she slipped behind Hinata and wrapped her arms around her curvy body. The blonde nuzzled the side of her face before kissing her ear. Then very quietly she whispered, "We want to play with _you_."

Naruto started to slowly zip down his orange and black jacket, as one of Ino's hands slid inside of Hinata's kimono. She could feel her skin upon her skin. She felt Ino's hand caress one of her feminine hills. Hinata's bottom lip trembled as Ino continued to massage her.

"Do you like girls, Hinata-chan?" Naruto suddenly asked, causing Hinata to peak open one of her eyes. She wanted to answer, but the pleasure was breaking her focus even more. Then before her eyes, Naruto transformed into a naked girl with some sort of jutsu. She didn't quite catch the name of it, but she didn't realize...how pretty Naruto was as a girl. She didn't didn't realize how badly she wanted to be touched. She felt ashamed for enjoying it so much. Naruko, as Ino started calling him...or her (Hinata wasn't sure what to call Naruto, other than attractive) started opening up her kimono, exposing her to the chilled, dark room.

"Can I give you a kiss, Hinata-chan?" Naruko asked.

"A k-kiss?" she stammered. "I...I...I'm not good though..."

"Who said she was going to kiss _those_ lips," Ino giggled before lightly trailing her kisses upon Hinata's neck and shoulder. Hinata started to watch Naruko slowly get down on her knees. Hinata's legs trembled as she felt the blonde's hands move to her legs.

"Maybe you should lay down, neh?" Naruko suggested.

"I...I..." Hinata stammered as Ino moved her to the ground. Ino then kissed Hinata, distracting her from the task that Naruko was about to perform. The feeling of her tongue against her tongue, caused memories of those moments in Ino's bedroom to flood back into her mind. Then the realization of what Naruto was about to do to her, made her feel even more nervous. She felt moist. She felt embarrassed when she felt Naruko's fingers graze against her prized treasure. Her secret garden. Before the other blonde's tongue could make contact, Hinata broke from Ino's kiss and said, "No!"

"Would you rather I be a boy?" Naruko asked.

"N-No," Hinata stammered as she closed her legs. "You're not real..."

"But of course I'm real," Naruko laughed before transforming back into Naruto Uzumaki. "You felt me. I'm very real."

"This is an illusion...like before," Hinata said a bit sterner, as she started to get up. "Before...I would have felt honored and lucky to be in such a position...to have Naruto-kun and Ino-san pay attention to me. To be able to be given the chance to experience love...and then I learned something...love isn't everything. The only person I should look to love me...is myself. So no, Lilith, I _won't_ let you manipulate me anymore. I won't let you play with my feelings!"

Hinata felt...strong, although this strength was beyond something physically. She actually felt strength deep within herself. The moment itself was brief before Ino slammed her back down to the ground. A devilish grin was on her lips as all of her weight went straight into Hinata's shoulders. "Hinata-chan, we're trying to be nice..." she said, however her patience was running thin. "Don't you want Naruto-kun to touch you?!"

"Stop it," Hinata said.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING WANT HIM!" Ino yelled as she dug her nails drive into her skin. Hinata jerked her body trying to get away from Ino, however felt a squeak break from her lips when Naruto's hand entered her. She hadn't imaged it like this. She didn't want it to be this way at all.

"I'll...never forgive you," Hinata whispered, although pain was present in her voice.

"Isn't this what you wanted, Hinata-chan?" Ino smirked. "Naruto-kun is paying attention to you. He's _acknowledging _you."

"I'll never forgive you," Hinata said louder before crying, "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun!" Then in a swift motion she hiked up her leg and to kick the blonde boy in the face, knocking him away from her. Next she palmed Ino in the face with both of her hands, pushing her away as well. The dark haired girl scrambled to her feet, as both blondes glared her as they started slowly circling her.

"It's kind of stupid to fight us here," Naruto laughed.

"Then again, you were never the smartest bulb in the box, were you Hinata-chan," Ino taunted.

The girl activated her byakugan and sure enough Naruto and Ino were both filled with some sort of energy that burned brighter than any chakra she had ever seen. It was whatever Lilith was using to power her techniques.

"You're right," Hinata admitted. "Fighting you here wouldn't make any sense. Lilith controls the rules of this realm...but I also signed a contract. As long as Lilith and I both live, I am a part of her, just as she is a part of me. I may not be able to kill you, but you can't kill me either."

"We'll see about that," Naruto laughed as he brought up his hands to summon his shadow clones. What Hinata couldn't understand was how Lilith knew all of Naruto's techniques. How did she know so much about someone she didn't even know...then that's when it occurred to her...Ino also mentioned her feelings for Naruto. This world was something being controlled around her thoughts. That was how Lilith controlled her in the beginning. As each clone charged towards her, Hinata did her best to dodge as she rushed towards the entrance. There was no telling as to what would happen the deeper she plunged into this world. There was no guarantee that she would be able to return to the other side. All she knew was that she had to find the heart of the mirror, so she could activate the seal and break the contract.

As she dodged, she found herself thinking, _'I am stronger than a relationship...I'm more than an object of affection...I'm Hinata of the Hyuga clan...'_ Her movements were graceful like a dance as she continued to dodge all of Naruto's advances. Then suddenly Ino jumped at her punching and kicking as if she were trying to tug her into some sort of physical combo-attack.

As she continued to dodge, she wondered why she didn't see Tenten. Why wasn't there an illusion of the other girl? Why wasn't Lilith trying to tempt her with Tenten's affection? Why didn't she see Sakura? Hinata managed to knock Ino away from her, while simultaneously dodging a few more of Naruto's clones. With a puff of smoke, her only opponents were once again the original Naruto and Ino.

"You're stronger than you look," Naruto grinned.

"And you stopped that stupid stuttering-thing," Ino laughed.

Hinata felt her brows narrow as a fire started to burn inside of her...that she never felt before. These clones were nothing like Naruto and Ino who had always shown her kindness in the past. This was a mockery. And yet at that moment, something occurred to her.

"Lilith wants me to fight you...," Hinata voiced as she started taking steps backwards towards the light. "This room...is filled with negativity...you are creations of my negativity..."

"That's stupid," Ino laughed.

"No...because everyone has darkness...even me...and I let my jealousy fuel mine...but not anymore," Hinata said before smiling. "The real Naruto-kun doesn't have to love me back for me to be happy. I'm happy...if he's happy. Same with Ino-chan. It feels me with joy...to know that both are content with being my friend. I wouldn't want anything wrong to happen to Sakura-san and I'm grateful for Tenten- chan."

"What, let me guess, you want to take back your wish, and send Lilith-sama away, right?" Naruto smirked.

Hinata shook her head. "I feel sorry for her...she was sealed away for so long. She was all alone...no one deserves that..."

As Hinata spoke the light from the tunnel started to grow.

"Huh, and what do you plan to do about it?" Ino jeered.

"The only thing I know how," Hinata said with a sad sort of smile.

* * *

The entire house continued to shake as a light shot out of the mirror and started to fill the entire building. Tenten wasn't sure what was happening. She wasn't sure of what she was seeing as the world started to lose all of its color. For her, it was a fight to stay conscious. It was a fight to not give Lilith the satisfaction of ending her life, even though the woman was determined. However when the spa was filled with the light, Lilith stopped her advances.

She looked around, panicked.

"I told you..." Tenten whispered as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Hinata-chan...is stronger than anyone thinks...than anyone...wants to give her credit for...that's...that's why I believe in her...I believe in Sakura-chan...Ino-chan...Shizune-senpai..."

"Shut up," Lilith commanded as she stepped out of the hole in the wall. She pointed to Shizune's body. "How can you believe in someone who's dead?!"

"I believe..." Tenten continued to whisper, although her voice was barely audible.

Lilith parted her lips to argue, however froze when she suddenly felt her body go numb. In her thoughts she heard Ino's voice. "You didn't think I was really gone, did you?"

There, by the edge of the pool was Ino and Sakura. Ino was focused on her mind transfer technique. Sakura rushed past Lilith towards the shrine of light, but stopped when she saw Shizune laid out on the ground. "Shizune-senpai!" Sakura gasped as she dropped down by the woman. As much as she wanted to focus on her captain, her attention was directed back to the house. The light...reminded her of the one that she was in moments before when was sealed in that strange place.

"TENTEN!" Sakura shouted, "HINATA-CHAN!"

"I...I refuse..." Lilith said through gritted teeth as she mentally forced Ino out of her head, causing the blonde to suddenly drop down to the ground.

A chain shot out of light and grabbed onto one of Lilith's arms, trying to yank her into the building. "NO!" she yelled as she yanking her arm from it, but without any luck. She started diving her nails into her arm, trying to sever the limb from her body. Even with all of the blood that sprayed about from her sheer panic, the chain remained. Sakura sat by Shizune's body, watching as Lilith continued to flail about, as she fought against the force that was trying to pull her into the building.

Another chain shot out, attaching itself to her leg.

Sakura was mesmerized by the woman's fear...until she started pulling against the chains little by little, towards the glowing bath. Sakura assumed that she was trying to retreat to the strawberry water, until she heard her say. "I refuse...to go back alone..."

"Ino..." Sakura whispered as she jumped to her feet and dashed over to where Lilith and Ino were located.

Lilith grabbed the blonde by her arm, when Sakura moved to punch her away, only to have her fist grabbed by Lilith's other hand. Sakura was surprised that she suppressed the charkra that was channeled into her hand. "I can only take one of you," Lilith growled. Her arm was badly damaged as bits of her bone were showing. Sakura was also sure that the other woman had burned out a lot of her energy with all of the techniques that she used through-out the evening. More chains attached themselves to Lilith.

"What if I say none," Sakura growled.

"As long as you're touching me...then one of you will be selected," Lilith whispered. "I refuse to be alone...in that place..."

She drove her nails into both Sakura's hand, causing the pink haired girl to scream. She couldn't free her hand from the woman. She even dug her nails into Ino's arm, but not even the pain could bring Ino back to consciousness.

"I won't be alone...I won't..." Lilith kept saying, as her sadistic grin remained in place. "You can't make me be in that place alone."

* * *

**OoC:** Haha. I did better about updating in a timely manner. I hope to have a chapter up every week. That's my goal. I think I was doing something like that in the beginning. Anywho. Please review! I love to hear about what you guys think of the chapters and current events in the story. Trying to bring up that angst level~.


	19. A Shot of Adrenaline

**MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**A SHOT OF ADRENALINE**

* * *

"I refuse to be alone..."

Loneliness, she could feel Lilith's loneliness. It felt like a numbing disease, trying to take over her entire being. A loneliness that caused entire body to shudder and cringe. The sensation of pins and needles covered her skin.

As a shinobi you were taught never to fear death.

Loneliness...was a different matter altogether.

She could hear voices...floating above her in the darkness. Multiple voices. Some from women, others from men, but she couldn't fully pinpoint the identity of either. There was a single voice that stood out more than the others...a voice that felt very familiar, and made her less afraid.

Slowly Ino opened her eyes to see that she was in a hospital bed. The moment it occurred to her that she wasn't dreaming, she immediately sat up. "Sakura!" She looked around the room and saw Shikamaru, napping in a chair not far from her bed. There were a variety of flowers and cards arranged neatly at her bedside. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of a teddy bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck. Immediately it reminded her of the red ribbon she gave Sakura. She bit her bottom lip as she desperately tried to remember what happened.

The door opened, and she glanced over to see Chouji enter with two bags of potato chips.

"Oh you're up," he said, causing Shikamaru to slowly stir from his slumber.

"What happened?" Ino asked.

"We were about to ask you the same thing," Chouji said as he popped open one of the chip bags.

Ino appeared puzzled, so Shika explained, "The Anbu Black ops found you guys...eh, you weren't in good shape at all. Well...you were better off than Tenten and Shizune."

"What about Sakura?!" Ino inquired.

"We wanted to know if you remembered anything that happened," Shika voiced. "Your dad is probably going to search through your head...but I doubt you want him prying around in your thoughts."

Ino fell quiet. If her dad used that jutsu on her...then he'd know about the other things that happened at that spa. However she wasn't sure what else she was supposed to do in a situation like this. There were parts of her memory that were clear as day, and then it stops. "Lilith..." she suddenly remembered.

"Who...?" Shika and Chouji asked.

"Lilith," Ino repeated as she tried to get out of bed. The moment she moved to put pressure on her injured arm, she sharply winced, causing both of her teammates to move to her aid. "This is nothing," she tried to assure them, but they weren't listening.

"Ino, don't push yourself," Chouji began, but Shikamaru quickly cut him off, "Who's Lilith?"

"She was someone who was summoned...she has this chakra...that's unreal. It's stronger than anything I've ever seen...strong like Naruto. She...wanted to capture Sakura...she needed Sakura for this strange ritual...it dealt with strawberries and-" The blonde grabbed her head, feeling a throbbing sensation. "I entered her head at one point...and...everything went black."

"Then there's no choice...we'll have to talk to your dad," Shika sighed.

"No!" Ino protested. "I'm sure I'll be able to remember...I just...he can't. He can't know about..." her voice trailed off as she thought back to the methods Lilith used to control them. Sex. If her teammates or anyone else in the village knew about the things she experienced at the hotspring, they would question her in more ways than one. Ino didn't mind being a flirt. She didn't mind being overly sexual when it came to guys...but knowing that she had touched a lot of her fellow kunoichi, seemed scandalous. It seemed wrong and immoral. Her dad didn't need to know her most intimate thoughts. He didn't need to know how deeply she loved Sakura Haruno.

"Wait...what about Hinata?" Ino suddenly asked.

Shikamaru and Chouji shrugged their shoulders.

"Where is Hinata-sama?" Neji inquired as he moved into the room.

"I'm not...I'm not sure," Ino sighed, however Neji wasn't prepared to take that as an answer. He was able to grab her shoulders for only a moment, before Shika and Chouji moved him away.

"I knew she shouldn't have gone on that mission," Neji scoffed.

"Chill," Shika voiced, "We're all upset, but we need to be rational."

"We need a team," Ino voiced. "Does Naruto know?"

"He's on a mission," Shika answered. "The hokage thinks it's best if he _doesn't_ find out. He already lost Sasuke, there's no telling how he'll react to losing another member of team 7."

Ino was quiet for a second before glancing over once more in Neji's direction. With a deep breath she asked, "And Tenten...?"

"She requested to talk to Kurenai," he answered.

"But isn't she on medical leave? She's not supposed to-" Ino began, but Neji cut her off.

"She didn't ask to talk to her as a ninja. She wanted to ask her for advice."

Ino appeared confused. She didn't see why Tenten wouldn't ask her own mother. Then that's when she remembered that she had never heard anything about the other girl's parents. She knew that she admired Tsunade's strength, but wasn't that normal? Tsunade was the hokage after all.

"I'll let my dad...peer into my thoughts in the morning," Ino announced, catching all of the guys by surprise.

"But I thought you said-" Chouji began.

"It's alright. I want to find Sakura and Hinata-chan," she explained. "I take full responsibility for everything that happened. It was preventable." The blonde trailed her eyes over to Neji. "Hinata-chan will be brought back safely."

Neji didn't answer and walked out of the room.

Shikamaru muttered something negative under his breath, however Ino wasn't close enough to catch it. It was obvious that her teammate didn't approve of Neji's actions, but she couldn't blame him. Mentally she was beating herself up over letting Sakura slip away from her.

Even with her friends in the room...she could still feel Lilith's loneliness, and that scared her. Ever sense she had entered the woman's head, it was as if she never separated. They were somehow linked.

She hugged her knees as she stared down at her toes. Not too long ago, she had voiced that she refused to fall behind her rival. She refused to be counted as anything less...but even she was able to see how great the difference was in their skill level. "Shikamaru...Chouji...can I tell you something?" she suddenly asked.

"Yeah," they both answered, almost in unison.

"Lilith...isn't a ninja," she softly said. "The entire time I was trying to figure out how she fit into the equation...but I believe...that no matter how I try to look at it...she isn't a ninja...she doesn't practice jutsus."

"Then what are we worried about?" Chouji laughed. His laughs slowly came to a stop when he noticed the serious expression that was locked onto him. Ino never appeared so serious. He felt so uncomfortable that he couldn't bring himself to eat another chip, and folded the bag over.

"She's a monster," she explained. "She's some kind of witch...a succubus...a demon...I'm not sure. What she hit us with...was stronger than anything I've ever seen before. She had fingers that grew to inhuman lengths, but sharp enough to pierce through your bones. She's too strong..."

"Then what about Sakura and Hinata?!" Shika immediately asked.

Ino parted her lips to answer, however a sudden heavy burden covered her, as her chest suddenly tightened. She vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

_'Please don't cry in front of them,'_ she told herself as time slowed down. Shika and Chouji were moving to her side. The few seconds that it took for them to reach her, felt like an eternity. The moment that Shika's hand touched her shoulder she broke into a fit of sobs. She said a variety of things, but were produced as broken sentences. She mostly insulted herself with statements such as:

Why am I so useless...

Why couldn't I help them...

Why wasn't it me...

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" she screamed before Shika suddenly hugged her as tightly as he could, surprising her. She continued to cry, but she wasn't as loud, and hugged him back. "Sakura..." she whispered. "I tried...I tried so hard...to save Sakura," she continued to whimper.

Chouji watched the scene as he clutched his chip bag, trying to think of how he could help. He took a step towards the bed, but Shikamaru shook his head as he continued to hug their teammate.

"I love Sakura so much...that it hurts..." Ino admitted, causing both Shika and Chouji's eyes to widen. "Without her here...I can't help but feel this...overwhelming...loneliness." Shika's expression slowly shifted to that of sadness as Ino continued to speak. "I just...want to see her..."

"You're not alone," Shika told her as he continued to rub her back. "You'll never be alone..."

"Plus, we're going to help you," Chouji spoke up.

Shika moved back a bit from the hug so that he could stare directly at Ino, so that his eyes locked with her glossier ones. Gently he moved his thumb to wipe away her tears. "It's kind of troublesome when you cry," he lightly laughed. "We'll save Sakura for you. Rest up, because all of the clues we need are probably in your head. So you need to be as stable as possible." She noticed that his eyes briefly trailed to her lips as he was contemplating something before he stood to his feet.

"If you're hungry, I brought an extra bag," Chouji said as he help up one of the Pork Bar-B-Que flavored chips.

"Heh, you know how Ino is about her diets," Shika teased as he tugged his friend out of the room.

"_You'll never be alone..."_

If that was the case...then what was this terrible feeling that continued to sit in the pit of her stomach? Or the voice that echoed in the back of her mind. She wanted to see Sakura. First, she needed to check up on Tenten. Carefully she moved from the bed and quietly crept over to the door. When she peered out, she saw that Chouji and Shikamaru were still in sight, but now they were talking to Kiba and Shino. She could only imagine that they showed up to ask her more questions about what happened to Hinata.

"Don't even bother talking to the Tsunade," Kiba said in a snarky manner. "It'll just waste your fucking time."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"As it stands right now, there is nothing that either of us can do," Shino tried to explain.

"Bullshit," Kiba snapped once more. "Tsunade says that to qualify for the mission, you have to be a girl. Is she fucking kidding me? That's why Hinata was taken in the first place! The team wasn't fucking balanced!"

Ino felt her blood boil as she clutched the door. Perhaps it was her own hot-tempered nature? Maybe someone could blame it on hormones? At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to punch the male right in the face.

"I disagree," Shikamaru stated in his usual calm tone. "I don't think a team of kunoichi is a bad idea. I just don't see what our gender has to do with the mission."

"She didn't specify," Shino answered.

"Chouji and I are going to pay the hokage a visit," Shikamaru told the two chuunin. He and his friend turned to move down the hallway. After taking a step he stopped to add. "Don't bother Ino."

Ino's eyes widened as she watched Shino and Kiba turn their attention away from her room, and look at her teammate. Her heart continued to beat rapidly in her chest as she listened to all that Shikamaru had to say to the two teenaged boys.

"She's been through a lot, and needs some time to rest," Shika explained. "Save your questions for tomorrow morning." There was something different about his voice. It was almost as if he warning them. Kiba and Shikamaru stared at each other for a few seconds, before Kiba muttered out a, "Whatever", and he and Shino parted ways with Shikamaru and Chouji.

Ino wanted to move out and thank Shikamaru, but for now, she decided to follow his instructions. She would need to rest up if she planned on rescuing Sakura. What was odd that Tsunade said that only kunoichi was qualified to fight Lilith. Why was that? It didn't make any sense, but she was sure Tenten would want to hear about it.

* * *

That night, Ino clutched her pillow tightly as images flashed through her mind. She saw a large bird cage with Sakura held captive inside. She glanced over to see that Hinata was being held in an identical one not far from Sakura's. She saw her hands reach out and grab onto to Sakura's cage. There was no sound. She tried to scream out to the pink haired girl, but no sound was produced. Instead her eyes locked with Sakura's. Instead of the lively green orbs that caused her heart to flutter...Sakura coldly glared at her.

That cold, numb loneliness never left her.

Ino couldn't explain what she was seeing. Why she suddenly had the urge to violently lash out at the other female.

She released the cage, causing it to rock back and forth, as it continued to hang from the hook it suspended from. Her eyes trailed around the area. Lit torches lined the perimeter of the area. The fire glowed a dull pink, as the poles were a dark red crimson, as if they were painted with blood. Then that's when Ino caught sight of something bizarre. The ground was covered in strawberries.

* * *

The sound of thunder jolted her from her sleep. The blonde sat up, as the dream remained ever so vivid. She could remember it as though it were a memory, than a fantasy she created on her own. Quickly she moved from her bed and changed into the clean clothes her mother had dropped off earlier. After she slipped her shoes on, the blonde quietly moved out of her room. Ino was just about to hurry down the hall, when she saw Tenten. Ino took a moment to actually survey Tenten's injuries. She was covered in bandages and yet here she was, making her escape as well.

"Heh, I guess great minds think alike," Tenten said before offering a cheerful grin.

"There's a high chance we might not survive," Ino reminded her.

"Of course," Tenten acknowledged with a nod. "But, we're running out of time."

Ino parted her lips to protest, but noticed the determination present in Tenten's eyes. With a sigh she nodded. The two girls rushed down the hall as swiftly as they could. It was when they were finally down the flight of stairs, that they both darted to the entry way. They didn't have supplies. The storm outside was only getting worse, and Ino couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Before they could reach the door, Anko suddenly appeared in front of them, causing both girls to freeze. Tenten and Ino stared at the jounin, their bodies tense as neither dared to take another step.

"Well, well, well," Anko finally spoke up.

"Please let us by," Tenten requested. "You don't understand what's at stake!"

"Ah, on the contrary, I think I do," the adult answered with a smirk. "I was actually on my way to see both of you. Tsunade-sama has given me a great deal of information on the situation. If the two of you go alone, then you're signing away any chance of survival."

"Then what do we do!" Ino snapped. "I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by while-"

"Hey, I never said that I wasn't going to help you," the jounin stated. "Tsunade-sama requested that I assist both of you in the retrieval of Sakura and Hinata. But I have to ask you...do you even know _how_ you were going to find Lilith?"

"Um...well," Ino began, however her voice trailed off.

"The mirror!" Tenten announced. "The mirror has a portal in it!"

"Which is why we were going to the hotsprings!" Ino explained.

"What am I going to do with the two of you," Anko laughed to herself, before focusing her attention once more on the girls. "Yeah, and I bet that would've been successful _if _Tsunade-sama hadn't ordered for that mirror to be confiscated."

"Meaning..." Ino began.

"Lilith's mirror is in Konoha," Anko continued. "We've already tried sending several of our experts into the mirror to retrieve Hinata and Sakura, but, as we've soon learned, men are not permitted to enter her world."

"That doesn't explain why you need us!" Tenten suddenly spoke up. "There are several girls you could ask!"

"But there aren't a lot of girls who have dealt with this world," Anko explained as her eyes trailed over to Ino.

Ino blinked her eyes for a moment, unsure of how Anko knew. She didn't tell anyone about that place that she and Sakura went to, and then everything suddenly made sense. "He already did it...didn't he?" Ino slowly asked. She should have noticed the clues when her friends seemed so surprised that she awake.

"While you were in your coma, he was able to determine that you were still linked to Lilith," Anko voiced. "From your thoughts we were able to gather that Hinata is also linked to her, but it was Tenten who had the power to break Lilith's control over her."

"And Sakura-chan?" Tenten asked.

"Well, she's apparently some kind of sacrifice."

The moment that Anko said 'sacrifice' Ino's thoughts immediately drifted back to her dream. The cages...that glare that Sakura had shot her. Perhaps the dream wasn't a dream after all?

"Take us to the mirror," Ino demanded.

"Alright, alright," Anko voiced as she threw both of her hands in the air, before turning to walk out the door. "But just so you both know. If you're on my team, then I don't expect any side random shit. We get in and get out. Understood?"

"Understood," both teenagers said in unison as they mentally prepared for the final battle. If what she saw in her dream was the preparation of the sacrifice, then she knew that they didn't have much time.

* * *

**OoC: Till next time~ please review! Xoxo**


	20. Life Support

MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES  
CHAPTER 20

**LIFE SUPPORT**

* * *

_'There has to be a way to escape...'_ trailed Sakura's thoughts as she hugged her knees, while sitting cooped up in the oversized bird cage. She refused to say anything as she focused on her thoughts, regardless of the multiple taunts Lilith continued to throw in her direction.

"How does it feel?!" Lilith cooed in a devilish manner as she held tightly to the bars.

The cage itself wasn't too far from the ground. Sakura would have guessed a few feet or so, judging by how tall it was in comparison to Lilith. From where Sakura was sitting, she could only see the other woman from her shoulders up, even that much was irritating.

"You can't feel time in here," Lilith cackled as her sanity continued to rapidly fade away. "What feels like seconds could really be days. Hours are months and eventually all hope is lost! Even if you do escape from this realm, you won't be able to return to your loved ones."

Sakura didn't reply, instead she took a breath, slowly exhaled.

"So you're not going to respond?" Lilith scoffed. When Sakura continued to sit in silence the woman snapped, "IGNORING ME WON'T HELP EITHER! If you continue to ignore me then your stay here will be even more unpleasant!" When Sakura chose not to say anything, Lilith stormed off leaving the two girls alone.

Sakura continued to sit there quietly, deep within her own thoughts as she wondered what they were supposed to do. How would they escape this? Before when she had willingly sacrificed herself she was content with the idea of being alone. She didn't mind facing death. What was different now? She couldn't begin to think of what changed. Ino wasn't here. Her eyes trailed over to Hinata to see that she was softly crying. Sakura refused to let the two of them die in this place.

She stood to her feet, which caused Hinata to glance over. Next the pink haired girl crept over to the door and climbed up on the bar to inspect the lock that kept the door from opening. The was a latch tying down the upper part of the door. Sakura was convinced that if she used all of her strength then she could take the little door off of its hinge.

"It's no use," Hinata told her, but Sakura didn't listen. She continued to struggle with the twisted wire, ignoring the burning sensation of the metal tip digging into her skin. She refused to let them rot in this place. Her deterination caused Hinata to stand to her feet and rush over to the bars of her own cage.

"Sakura-san," Hinata began, hoping to convince the other girl to stop, but Sakura didn't give up. She kept struggling with the door until she was shaking the bars out of frustration, until finally she hopped back and readied herself in a battle ready stance.

"Sakura-san!" Hinata exclaimed.

The pink haired girl suddenly rushed towards the door yelling her trademark, "SHANNAROOOOOOOO!"

The strength she tapped into was unreal, especially with their chakra being cut off, however Sakura managed to break the seal. Hinata stared in disbelief as the cage door was busted off. It was unreal how strong Sakura was. She felt in aw...she was impressed. She couldn't describe the state of admiration she was in. She felt her heart thud as she continued to clutch the bars as she watched Sakura heaving deep breaths to cope with her raised adrenaline. Well, until she realized that there was blood running down Sakura's arm from where it came in contact with the bars. Sakura wasn't healing herself. Hinata couldn't understand why she wasn't using medical ninjutsu. Then the pink haired girl climbed onto the outside of her cage and started scaling to the top.

Hinata swiftly looked forward to make sure that Lilith wasn't coming. Her breath was nervously short, but that didn't keep her from glancing back to Sakura, wondering what she was going to do next. Then suddenly Sakura rushed and lept into the air, barely clinging onto Hinata's cage. Using her upper body strength Sakura pulled herself up, while gritting her teeth. Hinata watched in aw as Sakura positioned herself to unlatch the cage door.

With a bit of hesitation, Hinata hopped out of the cage, landing down on the ground. It was only after Hinata was fully standing that Sakura suddenly asked, "Hinata, what is your nindo?"

"M-my nindo?" she stammered.

"What is it?"

"I...I won't run run away and I won't go back on my promise," Hinata voiced, towards the end gaining more confidence.

Sakura was silent for a moment, before stating rather seriously, "Hinata...for several years of my life I had to stand in the shadows of my comrades...waiting for the moment to fight along side of them. If you really want to make it out of here alive, then don't fall behind."

Hinata didn't argue and nodded her head. She felt hurt and yet inspired at the same time. There was a fire burning deep inside of her. At first she wanted to prove Sakura wrong, and show that she wasn't useless, that she wouldn't fall behind. And then Hinata's thought changed. This wasn't about Sakura, but proving to _herself_ that she could do it. She wasn't going to run away. She was strong, she just had to believe it.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," she spoke up, this time her voice held a bit more power.

"Aw, how touching," Lilith spoke up, causing both girls to quickly look over towards her. "You know, if you had only stayed in your cages, I would have spared you. I would have kept you as pets so that I had some of company...but once again, you go out of your way to defy me. Why?"

"Because we don't fucking belong to you!" Sakura growled.

Lilith's gaze was fixed on Sakura for a moment, taking in the intensity of the anger that burned in those green eyes of hers. It was _exciting. _Exciting to the point that a light laugh broke from her lips, and then she looked over at Hinata. She half expected the other girl to be trembling, possibly hiding behind Sakura, but she wasn't. The little Hyuga looked determined as well.

"How do you plan on getting out of here?" Lilith suddenly asked. "Do you really think that you can beat me?"

"Possibly not," Hinata spoke up, "But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try!"

"Let's play a game," Lilith proposed. "We'll play hide and seek. Whoever I find last wins."

"And what about the person who loses?" Sakura questioned.

Lilith watched her for a moment as a coy expression slipped onto her face, only to be followed by a light laugh. "That's not for you to worry about. I will give you a ten minute head start." Then suddenly Lilith turned her back to the two girls. Sakura contemplated attacking the woman but noticed that Hinata was glancing over in her direction, before glancing towards the jungle that would offer at least some cover for them on this little island. Without anymore hesitation, the two kunoichi dashed off.

Hinata could feel that she was falling behind. Even without their ninja speed, Sakura seemed to have some sort of drive that she couldn't explain.

_'I refuse to fall behind...'_ Hinata thought as she started pushing herself harder. No matter how her body ached for her to slow down her progress, she kept pushing herself until she was even with Sakura. She wasn't sure what they plan was, but she kept running with Sakura, hopping over the uprooted trees.

"Sakura-san," Hinata called out as they pushed further and further into the woods, however the pink haired girl wouldn't answer her. "Sakura-san!" she repeated, this time with a bit more power. "I'm very sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Although it wasn't uncommon for the former heiress of the Hyuga clan to apologize...this one felt odd. It felt wrong as it sat upon her tongue. No matter these feelings, she refused to allow it to crumble her. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to be like Naruto, Ino, Sakura and Tenten. She wanted to help.

"What do you want me to do?" Hinata frantically asked. "How can I atone for everything I've done!"

Sakura stopped running, causing Hinata to stop as well. There was hostility present in Sakura's body. Nervously Hinata took a step back and then it became apparent to her. Lilith was only going to kill one of them.

A yell broke from Sakura's lips as she charged at the other girl with her fist. Hinata was more than certain that Sakura had unlocked her chakra. Quickly she hopped back, barely missing the attack that shot craters into the ground. Attack after attack, she continued to dodge while screaming for Sakura to stop it. They were teammates!

They were teammates...

Hinata's thoughts continued to drift back to the moment when she said her wish. She didn't want to wish harm against Sakura. Tears streamed from her eyes as she continued to dodge. Her movements were slowly becoming cleaner and graceful as though she were dancing. And then she felt it. As if a swift flipped on inside of her core, she felt her chakra network responding.

"I'm tired of running away," Sakura declared. "And I refuse to let this _witch_ take our lives and do what she wishes! If we work together, then we can win." Her gaze shifted over to Hinata offering a very enthusiastic grin.

"We have too many dreams...to let them die here," Hinata smiled back. Her smile wasn't being choked off by her insecurities. It was so genuine that Sakura couldn't help but smile even brighter.

"Well isn't this cute?" they heard Lilith's voice coo. Both girls darted around, unable to catch any sight of the female. The night sky shrouded the entire forest in darkness. Lilith's laugh seemed to echo from all directions, but Sakura was unable to locate her.

"Byakugan!" Hinata declared as she activated her bloodline trait. Her eyes scanned over the surrounding area, and then as light, she saw Lilith's energy glowing in the darkness. "12 o'clock," Hinata quietly stated.

The pink haired girl charged towards the direction as she channeled as much chakra as she could into her right hand. "SHANNARO!" she yelled as she plowed her fist ahead of herself, busting it through the tree.

"3'clock!" Hinata shouted. "She's coming right at you!"

Before Lilith's claws could make contact, Sakura dodged. Even though she was blindly fighting, she could feel the other woman close to her. She could sense her presence, however it was difficult to fight blindly like this. Fortunately whenever she'd lose track of Lilith, Hinata would shout out her new position. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Hinata darting over in her direction. Immediately Sakura hopped back, allowing Hinata to charge her finger tips towards Lilith, however she couldn't connect any of the attacks. That didn't stop the girls from dodging and countering against the woman, until they were suddenly in the clearing of the trees.

The rays of the pink moon shined canceling Lilith's invisibility. It didn't falter their opponent's confidence but added to her arrogance.

"Look at the two of you," she laughed, "You're actually teaming up to fight me. Don't forget, I'm _not_ your enemy. Hinata-chan, who was it that always stood in the way of your love, hm?"

"Sakura-san is my friend," Hinata declared, "And I won't let you manipulate me anymore!"

"Oh, she's your friend? Are you so sure of that?" Lilith questioned.

"You're scared!" Hinata declared. "You're afraid because you know that you can't win against Sakura-san and myself! That's why you're trying so hard to make us fight against each other!"

"Hinata's right!" Sakura agreed.

"We'll see," Lilith smirked as she readied herself once more, allowing her claws to glisten against the rays of the moon. This time when she charged towards the two, her movements were faster. So fast that Hinata and Sakura barely had enough time to react. A yell broke from Sakura's lips as the razors slashed deeply into her arm. Blood rushed from her wound, but she was quick to heal over her injury with her other hand as she continued to dodge the multiple attacks.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Hinata hopped up and palmed Lilith in the back, knocking the woman forward. Lilith's eyes widened in disbelief as she hit the ground only to be pummeled down once more by a direct hit from Sakura.

Sakura hopped back from the crater so that she was standing beside Hinata. Both girls watched for some sign of movement. After a moment passed, without any change, Sakura couldn't help but lightly laugh.

"We did it," Hinata whispered.

"We did it!" Sakura laughed louder before wrapping her arms around the busty girl and hugging her tightly. The action had surprised Hinata, but that didn't stop her from returning the hug.

After a moment, she slowly pulled back from the pink haired girl and found herself asking, "What happens next? How to we escape?"

Sakura's smile slowly faded away as she tried to piece together an answer.

"We can't...can we?" Hinata concluded. Even with the sadness in her voice, she continued to smile. "But it's alright...because being trapped with you...is far better than being alone."

"I'm glad I help your solitude," Sakura muttered as she looked towards the sky.

"That's not what I meant!" Hinata protested before softening her voice. "I mean...I don't mind being trapped here with you."

Thorny vines shot out of the ground, wrapping itself around both girls, hoisting them into the air. The thorns dug deeply into their skin. Screams erupted into the air. A strange energy electrocuted them causing both girls to writhe in agony.

"Beg," Lilith whispered as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. Blood dripped down her arms that hung down in front of her. She didn't have enough strength to hold her head up, but that didn't shake her desire to kill the two kunoichi. "Beg...for my forgiveness."

Sakura gritted her teeth trying to endure as much pain as she could, however she couldn't help but glance over in Hinata's direction. The pain was continuous. It was intense and beyond anything Sakura had ever experienced before, but she refused to follow any of Lilith's plans. She refused to give her that kind of satisfaction.

Lilith held her hands together and charged even more of her strange magic into the vines.

BEG!" Lilith shouted.

Hinata continued to scream causing Sakura to fear that the girl was going to surrender. She had to do something. She couldn't let them die here.

"No!" Hinata managed to say. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

_'Hinata,' _ Sakura thought when she heard that. _'Please hold on a little longer.' _

Sakura had a trump card...that she had been waiting to use. A trump card she had stored up several years of chakra to accomplish. She had hoped that she could use the technique later down the road. She wanted to use it around Team 7 to show her progress. However if she didn't use it now...then there wouldn't be a later. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on her entire being. Despite the pain, despite the hopelessness...she had to shut out the rest of the world.

Bladed ninja tools zipped back Lilith cutting through the thick vines, causing both girls to drop. Anko and Ino were quick to soften their descent to the ground, but unable to fully support their weight. Lilith rose a brow towards the display, however it wasn't long until her sadistic grin crept back into place.

"How cute, you wanted to die together," she mused. "I'll be happy to arrange that."

"We'll see about that," Tenten announced as she flipped into the air, landing in front of the group with her feet planted in a dominate stance.

"It's over, Lilith!" Ino declared.

Lilith looked at them, however her smile never faltered. It was at that moment that Anko's eyes widened. She carefully lowered Hinata to the ground and stood to her feet. Once again, Anko's presence was terrifying serious.

"If you surrender, then we'll settle this peacefully," Anko bargained only to earn a laugh from Lilith. "Cooperate and it'll all be over."

"It was over a long time ago," Lilith smirked as she took a step forward, not at all phased by Tenten's readiness to launch more weapons towards her. "Long, long ago...you remember, don't you?"

"What is she talking about, Anko-sensei..." Ino asked.

"Tell them, _Anko _about how blood thirsty you can be," Lilith grinned. "Let them hear it...so then perhaps we can both die in peace."

"Surrender!" Anko repeated. "If you want to be saved then goddammit surrender!"

Markings started forming all over Lilith's face, traveling down her arms, onto her legs and the rest of her body. The markings were glowing a bright pink as her hair was completely illuminated by this point. Even with the little bit of strength Hinata had, she used her byakugan to scan over Lilith's energy and sure enough she came to a troubling conclusion.

"Her chakra's changed," Hinata weakly spoke up. "What ever she's about to do...is going to have catastrophic results..."

"Unless we stop her," Sakura voiced as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Tell them, Anko!" Lilith declared as her body glowed even brighter.

Tenten launched several weapons towards her, but all seemed to bounce of a sphere of energy that surrounded the woman. Anko swiftly completed the necessary hand signs before using her Dragon Fire Technique Not even the blaze of fire could touch Lilith.

Sakura was about to rush towards Lilith however her body gave out causing her to collapse down tot he ground as the damaging effects of the earlier attack started to settle in.

Anko brought her thumb up to her mouth, ready to nip off the top part of the skin, but she hesitated.

"Your techniques can't touch me," Lilith whispered. "As you know...Lilith is perfect in every single way...nothing you can do...can touch me. And even after this body crumbles and decays...she'll continue on through someone else..."

"You're not god!" Anko shouted.

"On the contrary..." Lilith lightly laughed as her body was engulfed in light. Before the technique could be completed, Ino connected her mind once more with Lilith's, causing her own body to suddenly to limp and crash down near Sakura.

"Ino-san!" Hinata exclaimed as she managed to move over to the fallen blonde.

"Stupid," Anko snapped. "Lilith isn't your average nin. There's no guarantee that she'll be able to escape back to her own body."

"Then what do we do?" Tenten asked in a panic.

"The mission is to kill Lilith," Anko instructed. "As skilled as Ino is...she had no business interfering like this!"

"We were about to get killed!" Tenten argued.

"I have it under control!"

"Clearly you don't!" Tenten snapped. "We are not leaving Ino behind!"

That statement soon reminded Anko of something she had said in the past. _'We're not leaving Nagisa-chan behind!'_ Her dark colored eyes locked onto the ground as a lot of tension filled her body.

"Is there a way we can take both of them back to Konoha?" Sakura weakly suggested as she pushed herself up.

"If what I heard about this place is true...it must always be occupied...or Lilith will choose a new host," Anko muttered.

"But how can Lilith choose a new host if we take her into custody?!" Tenten questioned, growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"Lilith is like a virus and only particular individuals are compatible with her chakra. As time goes on, her charka eats away at the body of her host until she has to transfer again. Orochimaru was fascinated by her legend...and was often curious if it was true," Anko voiced.

"And then what happened?" Hinata asked.

"It's not important. All of you should focus on the mission," Anko coldly told them before walking over towards Lilith's body who continued to stand like a soulless puppet. "Sometimes...for the greater good of everyone a few sacrifices must be made."

* * *

**OoC:** I apologize for the absence! I've been writing for a few play festivals. I'm pumped for writing the next chapter! Anywho, let me know what you think, and thank you again for sticking with the story as long as you have! Next chapter may or may not reveal the secret of Nagisa~. Til next time! xox


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